200422 by The Southern Cross

The

S outher n C ross

April 22 to April 28, 2020

Why deacons are important in parishes

Page 7

Reg No. 1920/002058/06 No 5183

www.scross.co.za

R12 (incl VAT RSA)

Centenary Jubilee Year

How to pray the Family Rosary

World Youth Day to be delayed

Page 9

Page 5

Burglars rob, vandalise and desecrate cathedral BY ERIN CARELSE

APE TOWN’S St Mary’s cathedral was broken into and vandalised in the early hours of Saturday morning, at a time when churches are closed to the public in terms of the national Covid-19 lockdown. Cathedral administrator Fr Rohan Smuts said his worst fears were realised when he received a call on Saturday informing him that the mother church of South Africa had been burgled. “It was absolutely heartbreaking when I came into the sacristy and looked into the cathedral. Where the tabernacle was, there was nothing. It was just utter destruction,” Fr Smuts told The Southern Cross. The unknown persons broke into the cathedral through a small window on the side of the Blessed Sacrament chapel. According to Fr Smuts, the thieves tore the tabernacle to pieces to open it, and then desecrated it and Eucharist. It was taken off its mounting, “and that isn’t easy at all as it’s a fixed structure”, Fr Smuts said. The tabernacle was left upside down. When Fr Smuts pried the doors open, he saw no vessels. But his first concern was for the consecrated hosts. “The consecrated hosts from the ciborium had been left inside the tabernacle, but the host from the pyx had been removed,” the

St Mary’s cathedral’s Blessed Sacrament chapel before Saturday’s burglary (left) and afterwards. The burglars stole four of the six silver candlesticks, among other valuable items, and damaged and desecrated the tabernacle. (Photos courtesy St Mary’s cathedral) priest said. Other stolen items include the church’s microphones, four of the six silver candelabra that were next to the tabernacle, a gold-plated chalice, two gold-plated patens, and money from the votive candles box, donations and Southern Cross sales. Fr Smuts said when the nationwide lockdown was implemented, the cathedral parish

didn’t think it would be necessary to remove anything from the Church. “When the lockdown happened, we had Mass, and that was it. It was instantaneous; we didn’t think then that we needed to remove these things,” he said. The cathedral was connected by alarm to an armed response service. But the armed security officer dispatched to the premises after

the church alarm went off was directed by the monitoring company to the old presbytery office instead of the cathedral. The security officer left a note, which armed response personnel usually do, to say he had found nothing out of the ordinary— but, of course, he was at the incorrect place. After the police took statements, Fr Smuts Continued on page 3

A letter from church mice How you can help T The Southern Cross HE Catholic Sentinel, newspaper of the US archdiocese of Portland in Oregon shared a letter it received to offer Catholic readers a little lighthearted break amid the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic. An open letter from church mice: Amid the pandemic, you have prayed for doctors, nurses, grocery store workers, priests and religious. You even, amazingly, invoke grace upon politicians before remembering us, who are right under your noses. We church mice always made a good living from the crisps which the Nelson kids dropped in the fourth pew during 10am Mass. And we realise the holy water was holy, but it also was delicious and refreshing. Now we are doing without, and you hardly seem to care. Missing Holy Week was a big hit for us. In addition to the ecstasy of nibbling on succulent dropped palms, we consider Palm Sunday our most entertaining of the year. Those feisty Nelson boys call it “Sword Fight Sunday” and regularly thrill us with palmy parries and thrusts. We church mice refer to it as “Eye Poke Sunday” and would

roll with laughter in our dens as we’d recount inadvertent facial assaults between pews. We guess those palms are hard to manage safely. Next year, best leave them on the ground for us. We’ll take care of them. Other than dodging drops of hot wax from all your little candles, we are impressed at your Easter Vigils. For the record, we prefer the dark part, since we must scamper into our holes when the lights come up. It’s mouse code. We may not have souls, but we can sense that something happens for you at Mass, something we don’t notice in your houses, bars and garages. For one thing, you almost never eat cheese puffs at church. For another, you seem connected to something bigger than you, a state we admire. We may be only mice, but we hear when you say that your Christ is king of the universe, not just of humans. I guess Jesus is there for us all, even those who don’t look like us—though tails and whiskers would be an improvement on you. We mice pray in our own way and we pray fervently that you return to Mass soon, especially the Nelson kids.

iD you know that The Southern Cross is entirely independent and unsubsidised, surviving on revenue from sales and advertising — and the kind support of our readers? The Southern Cross has survived for nearly 100 years on strength of tight financial management and the great sacrifices by its small, loyal staff. But now the survival of our only national Catholic weekly is in great danger. The closure of our churches in the national lockdown has robbed us of our main source of income: sales at the church door. We have made the weekly edition available for FREE on our website, going online every Friday at 11:00. That way, all Catholics will have access to the Catholic weekly. Subscribers get their edition on Wednesdays, with premium content for the duration of the lockdown. We are asking those who take up our offer of the free newspaper to make a donation, or to subscribe. An encouraging number of people have already done so. We remain positive that by God’s grace we can survive this crisis. But that also requires YOUR help.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

• Subscribe and encourage people to subscribe to The Southern Cross. Go to digital.scross.co.za/subscribe (or click HERE) or subscriptions@scross.co.za • if you run a business, advertising in The Southern Cross is a great way of supporting us. it could turn out to be a great commercial decision, as many advertisers have found. Contact Yolanda at advertising@scross.co.za • Support our Associates’ Campaign which helps us build up reserves and undertake important outreach work. Go to digital.scross.co.za/associates-campaign for details (or click HERE) • Make an EFT contribution into the account: The Southern Cross, Standard Bank, Thibault Square Branch (Code 020909), Acc No: 276876016. Please e-mail or fax payment details and your name and contact details to admin@scross.co.za or 021 465-3850. • Make a contribution via Snapscan, using the QR code on page 10—a safe and easy way to help The Southern Cross. We depend on YOU to keep our national Catholic weekly alive. Thank you for your generous help! May God bless you and us all!

The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

LOCAL

Free State family project: Let’s tackle tough issues BY ERIN CARELSE

ARISHES in the diocese of Bethlehem in the Eastern Free State are implementing a project by a faith-based organisation to put into action the family and marriage section of the Pastoral Plan. The Sekwele Family Cohesion Project has over the past three years implemented big ideas by investing time, effort and resources in building healthy families and communities. “Actioning a Pastoral Plan requires much more than selected biblical quotes, prayer sessions, a launch and possible actions announced from the pulpit by clergy who might have a limited understanding of the trials and tribulations of maintaining family relations through the full lifecycle of a family,” said Sekwele director Imelda Diouf. The new Pastoral Plan says a key

part of pastoral care is helping families that are hurting and broken. For Ms Diouf, this means that the diocese, pastoral councils, priests and parishioners have to develop family programmes that address the concerns of communities. Family Support Groups (FSGs), often part of Small Christian Communities, within each parish play a key role in identifying problem areas. These include types of families, parenting skills, healthy living, household budgeting, and conflict management within the household. “The Sekwele project makes it OK, within a faith context, to talk about the tough issues,” Ms Diouf said. She listed examples: “I am sad, unhappy. I want to kill myself. I don’t know how to budget. My husband is a blesser. My child is the one who is dealing with drugs.” “Members of FSGs are encour-

The Sekwele Family Cohesion Project in the Free State included a youth workshop in Qwaqwa, facilitated by clinical psychologist Lerato Makoba. aged and supported to share their experiences and the possible solutions,” Ms Diouf explained. Getting help for depression, writing a will, parenting a child, or dealing with feelings of sexual inadequacy might be a scary process for many people because of perceived cultural and religious norms, Ms Diouf said.

“FSG members, however, help each other decide the point at which no amount of family cohesion can solve a problem, [when] external help must be sought,” she said. “This could include asking advice from financial or psychological services, seeking a protection order or reporting crime, joining a substance abuse programme, accepting

an ex-convict back into the home.” Activities of the Sekwele project include workshops and information sessions on many areas, including family relations, conflict management, finances, substance abuse, mental health, and communication. The activities are led by external skilled facilitators or FSG members with content and governance training and materials. “Family strength, stability and unity require a greater understanding of the role that a family, the most fundamental unit of society in meeting human needs, plays in ensuring peace, solidarity and social cohesion. The task is simultaneously simple and complex—understanding ourselves,” Ms Diouf said. n For more information about the Sekwele Family Cohesion Project visit www.sekwele.org or contact 058 3031459.

A gift that’s ‘sweeter than chocolate’ Klerksdorp diocese teams BY ERIN CARELSE

NSTEAD of buying Easter eggs this year, a Catholic family-owned business decided to use the money to do some good. Chris Dryden and his family, together with their business Drydendoors, have long supported St Joseph’s Home for chronically ill children (SJH) in Cape Town. So when he received the home’s latest campaign, called Five in a Box, he knew he had to help. “I received the SJH newsletter and saw the campaign asking for essential baby products. That’s when I told my family I would not be buying Easter eggs this year,” Mr Dryden said. Five in a Box is an Easter campaign which SJH started in midMarch, asking for “a gift that is sweeter than chocolate” of baby toiletries or R200. The campaign has now been extended until two weeks after the nationwide lockdown ends. “At that time a pharmaceutical chain had a 3-for-2 special on their baby products, and my daughter went online and bought the stock we could afford,” Mr Dryden said. “I didn’t want to stop there. I sent the pamphlet via WhatsApp to friends

Retirement Home, Rivonia, Johannesburg Tel:011 803 1451 www.lourdeshouse.org

Catholic business Drydendoors is among those donating baby products to St Joseph’s Home in Cape Town. and some of my close suppliers, and the response was unbelievable.” With the number of monetary donations coming in, the family was running from one shop to the next for the supplies on special. “We cleaned out all of the online stock available,” Mr Dryden said. Unfortunately, the family was not been able to drop off the items they had bought due the implementation of the lockdown three weeks before Easter. But they are continuing to collect products and will drop them off once the lockdown has been lifted. Alrika Hefers, resource development manager at SJH, said the home is very grateful to Mr Dryden and his

Frail/assisted care in shared or single rooms. Independent care in single/double rooms with en-suite bathrooms. Rates include meals, laundry and 24-hour nursing. Day Care and short stay facilities also available.

Church Chuckles The Big Book of Catholic Jokes

family and friends for the support, and to everyone who has generously donated to their campaign. “People have decided to donate despite these very difficult circumstances. We started this campaign in mid-March, and to date have received R48 000 cash and R1 900 worth of products. These products were dropped off before the lockdown,” Ms Hefers explained. She attributes the success of the campaign to an integrated marketing effort, which included their website and Facebook page, The Southern Cross, and the Archdiocesan News. “The Southern Cross has contributed greatly to the success of this campaign by always being helpful and running our stories,” Ms Hefers said. The five essential products needed for babies are petroleum jelly, nappyrash cream, baby bath soap, pure aqueous cream, and baby shampoo. These products can be dropped off once the lockdown has been lifted. n To make a monetary donation, the banking details are: Standard Bank, Pinelands branch, account 271166614, account holder St Joseph’s Home, Swift code SBZAZAJJ.

up with NPOs in lockdown BY ERIN CARELSE

HE Catholic Church in the diocese of Klerksdorp is working together with church-initiated non-profit organisations to offer support to those in need during the state of disaster. In a letter issued by Bishop Victor Phalana of Klerksdorp, the diocese—represented by the diocesan ministries Caritas, Justice & Peace, Catholic Healthcare Association and Renew Africa— have requested that the faithful remember and give support in cash or kind to those who are negatively affected by Covid-19 and the lockdown. “Your help will be greatly appreciated,” the bishop said, adding that “people are saying to us: ‘We will die of hunger, we need help!’” The diocese is working with Rorisang in Khuma, and Mamosa and Bophelong in Kanana. The diocese is hoping to use

donations to finance 1 000 food hampers to distribute to orphans and vulnerable children, the homeless, poor communities such as those unemployed (including self-income-generating individuals), and households depending only on a social grant or pensioner. The diocese moreover seeks to distribute 1 000 items of personal protective equipment, including soap sanitisers, masks and gloves. The material for making masks will also be needed, as there is already a shortage. With winter approaching, the diocese is aiming to buy 1 000 blankets, and clothes for newborn babies, the poor and homeless, as well as 500 five-litre containers of potable water, to be distributed where there is a need. n The banking details are: Nedbank Matlosana Mall branch, account number 2012916597, account name: Roman Catholic Church Justice. The NPO number is 234-177.

1 Plein Street, Sidwell, Port Elizabeth

VIVA SAFARIS KRUGER PARK with

The biggest collection of Catholic jokes yet! Almost 500 jokes ordered by themes, with 60 cartoons by Conrad!

ONLY R180 (plus p&p)

and receive a surprise gift!

ORDER NOW!

Order from books@scross.co.za

or call 021 465-5007 or buy at 10 Tuin Plein, Cape Town

Southern Cross BOOKS

Send your overseas friends and family on an unforgettable safari with VIVA SAFARIS

www.vivasafaris.com Bookings: vivasaf@icon.co.za or 071 842 5547

Contact Vocation Coordinator on 072 989 2286 nardvocprom1855@gmail.com Facebook: Franciscan Nardini Sisters of the Holy Family

LOCAL

The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

Priest: New ‘normal’ must survive virus crisis BY ERIN CARELSE

Fr Peter-John Pearson (left), director of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, is seen with Jackson Mthembu, now minister in the presidency, after a CPLO roundtable discussion in 2016. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)

HE director of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) has urged South Africans to see that the new attitudes of government consultation and dialogue remain in place when the Covid-19 crisis is over. CPLO director Fr Peter-John Pearson noted that those engaged in advocacy, especially around policy issues, are heartened by the fact that during this crisis, the practice of wide consultation and dialogue, the fundamental principle of reducing burdens, and expansion of the common good, have guided many—though not all—government departments in their policy formulations. He said this was exactly the kind of advocacy environment that should ordinarily be part of governance. Civil society has to ensure this new “normal” remains the norm after the pandemic. Fr Pearson’s comments came after Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, updated regulations on the extended lockdown.

She framed these regulations within a narrative suggesting a slow, cautious “enablement of economic recovery”, the CPLO director noted. “This was the first comprehensive update since President Cyril Ramaphosa extended the national lockdown on April 12 by a further two weeks,” Fr Pearson said. Earlier in the week, Professor

Salim Abdool Karim, who chairs the health ministry’s advisory committee, explained how the extent of the pandemic would be measured. He also pointed out that the decision to extend, ease or lift the lockdown would be a function not only of maths or statistics but also of a number of social factors. “It is worth noting that these an-

Little Eden: ‘Our angels need help’

ITTLE Eden Society CEO Xelda Rohrbeck has appealed for support during the coronavirus time of uncertainty, saying: “Our angels need your help.” Little Eden’s two Gauteng homes, in Edenvale and Bapsfontein, provide lifelong care for 300 children and adults with profound intellectual disability. The society is facing tough times during the pandemic. “Our resilience is being tested to the limit,” Ms Rohrbeck said. “Financially we have already been hard-hit. Costs have gone up—with the need to provide additional hygiene products, personal protective equipment, and cleaning staff,” she said. “At the same time, our income has taken a huge dive, with the postponement of our annual fête, a major fundraiser, and the closure of our charity

shop. Also, restricting external access to our homes has a direct impact on donations received,” Ms Rohrbeck added. This means that Little Eden will end the current financial year with a deficit, and the pressure will impact on the upcoming fiscal period, in which donations are expected to drop from 30%-50%, she noted. To survive this, the society is, among other things, trimming its expenses, speaking to private partners and the government to expand their funding support, and asking members of the public for urgent support to help it reach the R10 million needed to keep its doors open. “It’s a big ask, I know,” Ms Rohrbeck said, “but a necessary one, if we are to continue providing this essential service.” She thanked funders, partners, stakeholders, and all who have

reached out to Little Eden with messages of support and offers of help. “Our ability to unite when faced with challenges has always defined us as a nation,” Ms Rohrbeck noted. “During this difficult period and as our ‘angels’ look to us for continued care, I appeal to your spirit of ubuntu and commitment to our cause.” n Donations can be made online at www.littleeden.org.za or deposited directly into Little Eden’s bank account. Bank: First National. Account name: Little Eden Society. Account number. 5468 0928 009. Branch: Karaglen. Branch code: 25-24-42. Account type: Cheque. Swift code: FIRNZAJJ. Use your donor number or cellphone number as the beneficiary reference, and email proof of payment to info@littleeden. org.za for a tax certificate.

Led by FR. FRANCIS CIBANE Lisbon, Fatima, Valinhos, Aljustrel, Coimbra, Batalha, Nazaré and Medjugorje 09 – 19 September 2020 From R 33 995.00

Led by FR CHRIS TOWNSEND Nazareth, Cana, Galilee, Bethany, Jerusalem, Qumran, Masada and Dead Sea 21 Sept.– 03 October 2020 From R 37 000.00

PILGRIMAGE TO ITALY AND MEDJUGORJE

from clothes and cot mattresses to feeding bottles and consumables. Those who have permission to sell essential goods, including grocery stores, general dealers and supermarkets, may now stock these. However, smokers and consumers of alcohol have been left dry. “Many will be unhappy that the ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarettes remains in place,” Fr Pearson said. Complex arrangements for the transport of children in compliance with various custody arrangements have been somewhat simplified, although the paperwork and proof of relationships is still required. It is emphasised that care needs to be taken to ensure that there is no chance of contamination in the place where the child is to reside, and that any travel must be direct, with no stopovers, especially for social purposes. Concessions were also made for children caught by the lockdown while visiting away from home. Once again, Ms Dlamini-Zuma warned against the practice of evictions during the lockdown period.

Thieves rob and desecrate cathedral Continued from page 1 went back into the church to transfer the Eucharist into another ciborium. There was much damage caused to other parts of the cathedral. The thieves tried to break through the sacristy door from the inside, but it proved difficult as it is bolted from the inside. They also broke the locks of the west door to remove all the stolen items. The criminals also attempted to remove flat-screen monitors, but failed to dismount them from their fixtures. They vandalised the chapel of Our Lady of Fatima, and broke into the statue’s glass casing to steal its crown. According to Fr Smuts, there is evidence the burglars were smoking inside the church, as cigarette butts were found. Police have managed to retrieve two sets of fingerprints, and it is believed that one or more of the thieves were injured, as the officers found bloodstains and some clothing. “I must commend the police who are handling the case; they have been very helpful,” Fr Smuts said.

MicasaTours: Discover True Faith with Us! PILGRIMAGE OF THANKS PILGRIMAGE TO GIVING TO MARY THE HOLY LAND

nouncements were made against worsening situations in some parts of the world, especially in the UK where over 11 000 people have died from Covid-19,” Fr Pearson said. “Despite the varied responses in Europe, there is a consensus that any premature relaxation of lockdowns will reverse many of the gains made over the past few weeks,” he noted. Fr Pearson said the issue of funerals continues to be highly sensitive. “Funerals are a hotspot for the spread of the virus, but they carry deep cultural and religious associations, and it seems people are prepared to be less vigilant on this issue. Restrictions remain tight on the numbers of attendees and an outright ban on night vigils,” he said. Also, those needing permits to travel now need a copy of a death certificate before they can be issued. If tradition calls for a quick burial or cremation, then a sworn affidavit must be obtained from the religious or cultural leader, Fr Pearson added. Also welcomed has been the provision for the sale of items relating to babies and toddlers. These range

Led by FR ALFRED IGWEBUIKE Rome, Vatican, Assisi, San Giovanni Rotondo and Medjugorje 20 Sept.– 04 October 2020 From R 36 995.00

The chapel of Our Lady of Fatima at St Mary’s cathedral after it was vandalised. The security company has now offered to have a guard stationed at the premises around the clock. Bishop Sylvester David, auxiliary of Cape Town, said although the church is the victim in this case, reparation has to be done. He has requested all the faithful in the archdiocese to join cathedral parishioners and engage in prayer, copies of which will soon be sent out to parish priests for distribution. “It is important that the entire local Church engages in this as the cathedral is the [nation’s] mother church,” Bishop David said.

The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

INTERNATIONAL

Pope: Now is the time to build a new world A BY CAROL GLATZ

Sheet music for a hymn composed by Fr Michael Joncas for this time of the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo: Fr Michael Joncas/CNS)

New hymn composed for Covid-19 pandemic BY LAURA IERACI

ITH churches under lockdown and parishioners and clergy unable to gather in person, Catholics connecting online for prayer have begun to sing a new hymn of hope and trust in God, composed specifically for this time of pandemic. Fr Michael Joncas, prominent and longtime US composer of liturgical music, said the idea for the hymn woke him up at 3am on March 26. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I awoke with the germ of an idea for a prayer-song to respond to what many are feeling in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic,â&#x20AC;? said Fr Joncas, a priest of the archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The basic composition was finished by about 10am.â&#x20AC;?

The priest, well-known for the hymn â&#x20AC;&#x153;On Eagle's Wingsâ&#x20AC;?, said his new composition, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shelter Me,â&#x20AC;? is a paraphrase of the well-known Psalm 23. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These are difficult times for all of us, individually and globally,â&#x20AC;? said Fr Joncas in his composerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted life as normal and called for acts of corporate and individual heroism in the face of present suffering and an uncertain future. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People of faith may be struggling to articulate their belief in an all-good and all-powerful God in this new era,â&#x20AC;? he continued. â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Shelter Meâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is my attempt as a Church composer to find Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence even in these fraught times.â&#x20AC;? CLICK HERE to hear a new version of the hymnâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;CNS

S the world slowly recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a risk it will be struck by an even-worse virusâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that of selfish indifference, Pope Francis said. This dangerous virus is â&#x20AC;&#x153;spread by the thought that life is better if it is better for me and that everything will be fine if it is fine for me. It begins there and ends up selecting one person over another, discarding the poor and sacrificing those left behind on the altar of progress,â&#x20AC;? he said in his homily at a Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday. The current pandemic instead must compel people to prepare for a â&#x20AC;&#x153;collective futureâ&#x20AC;? that sees the whole human family as one and holds all of the earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gifts in common in order to be shared justly with those in need, Pope Francis said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is not some ideology: it is Christianity,â&#x20AC;? and it mirrors the way the early Christian community lived, the pope said at the Mass, celebrated privately at Romeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s church of the Holy Spirit, which houses a shrine dedicated to Divine Mercy. The Mass was celebrated on the 20th anniversary of Pope John Paul IIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s declaration that the Sunday after Easter would be celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday. The Divine Mercy movement was founded in the early 1900s by Polish St Faustina Kowalska, who said Jesus told her he wanted a feast of Divine Mercy as a refuge and shelter for all souls. In his homily, Pope Francis noted that St Faustina said Jesus told her, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I

Pope Francis celebrates Mass marking the feast of Divine Mercy at the church of the Holy Spirit near the Vatican in Rome. The church houses a sanctuary dedicated to Divine Mercy. (Photo: Vatican Media/CNS) am love and mercy itself; there is no human misery that could measure up to my mercy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Lord always patiently and faithfully waits for people to recognise their failings and sins and to offer them to him so that he can help us experience his mercy.â&#x20AC;? the pope said. Even the disciples, and especially St Thomas, experienced fear and doubt, failing to believe in the risen Lord right away, he said. Jesus doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t scold them with a sermon because â&#x20AC;&#x153;he wants us to see him not as a taskmaster with whom we have to settle accounts, but as our father who always raises us upâ&#x20AC;?, just like any father would when his child

falls, Pope Francis said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The hand that always puts us back on our feet is mercy: God knows that without mercy we will remain on the ground, that in order to keep walking, we need to be put back on our feet,â&#x20AC;? he said. Right now, the pope said, the world is undergoing a â&#x20AC;&#x153;time of trialâ&#x20AC;? and, like St Thomas, â&#x20AC;&#x153;with our fears and our doubts, we have experienced our frailty. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need the Lord, who sees beyond that frailty an irrepressible beauty,â&#x20AC;? like a crystal that is delicate, but precious and transparent before God who lets his light of mercy â&#x20AC;&#x153;shine in us and through us in the worldâ&#x20AC;?.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;CNS

Double challenge of Ebola and Covid-19 BY FREDRICK NZWILI

Is God calling you to ministry? Been dropped in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;at the deep endâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;? Do you want to grow your ministry skills? $FFUHGLWHG +LJKHU &HUWLĂ&#x20AC; FDWHV WR equip Christians in these ministries Christian Proclamation

Enhance your skills in preaching, teaching the faith & making the Gospel known in different contexts

Christian Worship

Grow as a worship planner and leader

Christian Leadership & Management Learn about leading and managing a local church RU FRPPXQLW\ EDVHG RUJDQLVDWLRQ

Pastoral Care

Learn basic skills in care and counselling in contexts such as the family, HIV/AIDS, life changes, and human suffering 7KHVH +LJKHU &HUWLĂ&#x20AC; FDWHV RIIHU SUDFWLFDO LQQRYDWLYH DQG HDVLO\ SDFHG VWXG\ SDWKV WR H[FHOOHQFH LQ \RXU DUHD RI PLQLVWU\ Information brochures available from the College website and on request

Registration for 2020 opens on 1 November 2019. Theological Education by Extension College W www.tee.co.za E admin@tee.co.za T (011) 683 3284 / (010) 615 0130 The Theological Education by Extension College is registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training as a Private Higher Education Institution under the Higher Education Act 101 of 1997 5HJLVWUDWLRQ &HUWLĂ&#x20AC; FDWH 1R +( 1RQ 3URĂ&#x20AC; W &RPSDQ\ 5HJLVWUDWLRQ 1R

S the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread in the DR of Congo, the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Catholic bishops are insisting on measures to also fight Ebola, the deadly epidemic that has made a surprise return. In the week beginning April 10, three new cases of the deadly disease were detected in eastern DRC. Congolese health authorities reported that a 26-year-old man in Beni died of Ebola April 10. A young girl died on Easter Sunday, and a third person was undergoing treatment. The new cases came just days

before the World Health Organisation was set to declare the epidemic ended in the central African country. Until then, 54 days had passed without a new case, and it was also 40 days after the last person with Ebola had been discharged from treatment. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The reappearance was a surprise to all of us. We thought Ebola had ended,â&#x20AC;? Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa of Kisangani said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;All of us in the world have a problemâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;we are struggling with Covid-19. It is the main problem in the world now, but in our country, we are now struggling with both Ebola and Covid-19.â&#x20AC;? Archbishop Utembi said with

the re-emergence of the haemorrhagic fever, the anti-Ebola measures have had to continue. He said government medical teams had moved to the areas where the cases had been reported. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have not been able to meet as bishops due to Covid19, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my opinion the Ebola measures, including washing hands and avoiding game meat, should continue,â&#x20AC;? said the archbishop. Agency officials are describing the Congolese situation as triple challenge, as people face a humanitarian crisis, Covid-19, and now the reemergence of Ebola.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;CNS

Paris archbishop welcomes pledge to rebuild Notre Dame by 2024

RCHBISHOP Michel Aupetit of Paris welcomed a renewed pledge by French President Emmanuel Macron to rebuild Notre Dame cathedral. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t speak for all humanity, but this is certainly a moment of global emotion and witness,â&#x20AC;? Archbishop Aupetit told Radio Notre Dame, one year after a fire destroyed part of the historic structure. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Both the city and state, which own the cathedral, are agreed on the goal of reconstruction, and it was important to show from our Holy Week ceremonies that this is now on track. In this sense, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more important to show the cathedral is alive than to celebrate such a sad anniversary.â&#x20AC;? The 14 000kg Emmanuel bell in the cathedralâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s southern tower tolled at 20:00 on April 15 to mark the fireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one-year-anniversary. The same day, President Macron described Notre Dame as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;symbol of societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resilienceâ&#x20AC;? and pledged all efforts to ensure its full reconstruction by 2024.

Notre Dame cathedral, damaged in a fire one year ago, will be restored by 2024, pledged French President Emmanuel Macron. (Photo: Charles Platiau, Reuters/CNS) He noted that construction was on hold because of the Covid-19 crisis, but said it would â&#x20AC;&#x153;start up again as soon as possibleâ&#x20AC;?. Up to 500 firefighters battled to save the 850-year-old cathedral after the April 2019 fire brought down its 91m spire and two-thirds of its 13th-century oak roof, and destroyed much of

its wooden interior and masonry. Rescue teams evacuated many of the cathedralâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artworks and sacred objects, including what some Catholics believe to be the crown of thorns, used at Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Crucifixion, and a gold tunic worn by the medieval king St Louis IX. The former general overseeing the reconstruction, Jean-Louis Georgelin, told Franceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Catholic Le Pelerin weekly he believed a Te Deum for the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rededication would be held on April 16, 2024, the year Paris is due to host the Olympic Games. President Macron said the coronavirus crisis was currently â&#x20AC;&#x153;monopolising all thoughtsâ&#x20AC;? in France, but he praised the â&#x20AC;&#x153;specialists, architects, artisans, workers and apprenticesâ&#x20AC;? working to rebuild the cathedral and the 340 000 people and institutions worldwide who had donated funds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The French will again rediscover the joy of being together, and the spire of Notre Dame will once again rise towards heaven,â&#x20AC;? he said.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

Pope creates Covid-19 response commission BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

OPE Francis has created a new commission that will confront the challenges the world is facing in battling the coronavirus pandemic and what it will inevitably face in the aftermath, the Vatican announced. The Vatican said the goal of the commission, which will be led by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, is “to express the Church’s concern and love for the entire human family in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic”. The dicastery will work with other Vatican offices to coordinate the work, which includes “an analysis and a reflection on the socioeconomic and culture challenges of the future and proposed guidelines to address them”, the Vatican said. The commission is divided into five working groups focused on a specific aspect of the pandemic and has met twice with the pope to dis-

cuss ways it can help local Churches, especially in poor areas, said Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the dicastery. “The pope is convinced that we are living through an epochal change and he is reflecting on what will follow the crisis, on the economic and social consequences of the pandemic, on what we will have to face and, above all, on how the Church can offer itself as a safe point of reference to a world lost in the face of an unexpected event,” Cardinal Turkson said. The commission’s first working group, which is dedicated to “listening and supporting local Churches”, will work in cooperation with Caritas Internationalis, as well as the office of the papal almoner, the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and the Vatican pharmacy. Cardinal Turkson told Vatican News that the first group already has “set up mechanisms to listen to the local Churches to identify real

needs and assist in the development of effective and adequate responses”, including coordinating with apostolic nuncios and bishops’ conferences. “A broad outlook is needed. Nobody must be forgotten—prisoners, vulnerable groups. We need to share good practices,” the cardinal said. The second group will dedicate itself to research and the study of the pandemic and to reflecting on society and the world post-coronavirus in coordination with the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. This group, Cardinal Turkson said, “has the task of night watch, like the sentry, to perceive the dawn. To do this it is necessary to connect the best minds in the areas of ecology, economy, health and public security. We need the concreteness of science, and we need prophecy and creativity.”—CNS

World Youth Day postponed BY CINDY WOODEN

OPE Francis has agreed with a recommendation by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life to postpone by one year the next gatherings of the World Meeting of Families and World Youth Day. “Because of the current health situation and its consequences on the movement and gatherings of young people and families,” the World Meeting of Families in Rome will be pushed back until June 2022 and World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, will be pushed back until August 2023, the Vatican announced. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the dicastery, said that now is the time his office would be signing contracts with hotels and airlines if the World Meeting of Families were still to be held in 2021, “but no one knows what will happen”, so it seemed prudent to push the meeting back a year.

Pope Francis is seen at World Youth Day in Panama in 2019. World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, will be pushed back until August 2023, the Vatican announced. (Photo: Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters/CNS) The dicastery also would not hold two large gatherings during the same summer, so that was one reason World Youth Day was pushed back too, he said. The other reason, Cardinal Farrell explained, is that although people are talking about “returning to nor-

Vatican to send ventilators to Syria and Holy Land

VATICAN Congregation has announced that it is sending medical supplies to Syria and the Holy Land as the coronavirus spreads across the Middle East. The Congregation for the Oriental Churches said it was donating ten ventilators to Syria and three to St Joseph’s Hospital in Jerusalem, as well as diagnostic kits to Gaza and funds to the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem. The Congregation explained that the donations would be made in the name of Pope Francis through a new emergency fund called Fondo Emergenza CEC. In a statement, the Congregation, which is responsible for relations between the Vatican and the 23 Eastern Churches in communion with Rome, said it had created the fund in response to the pope’s appeal to care for the poor affected by Covid-19. It said it would be offering support to those affected by the pandemic in collaboration with the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, and the Assembly of Organizations for Aid to the Oriental Churches. It added that it would also draw on the annual collection for the Holy Land, which normally takes place on Good Friday but was postponed this

year until September 13 because of the coronavirus. The Congregation said it had “decided immediately to guarantee” the gifts of ventilators and diagnostic kits at the suggestion of local apostolic nunciatures. “Other suggestions coming from other countries are being studied,” it said. The Congregation insisted that, despite economic uncertainty, it would continue to make its annual contributions to schools and Catholic universities, as well as to displaced people in Syria and Iraq, and refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. Commentators have described coronavirus as a ticking time-bomb for the Middle East, parts of which are suffering from war and poverty, and have a weak medical infrastructure. The Syrian government reported the first coronavirus case on March 23. According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, 38 people in the country have tested positive for coronavirus and two have died as of April 18. The Congregation for the Oriental Churches’ statement concluded: “Let us all pray to God the Father to free us from the evils afflicting humanity, as we join in acts of genuine solidarity and brotherly love.”—CNA

mal” and government leaders are making plans for phasing out lockdowns and reopening businesses, “we do not believe travel will be that extensive” anytime soon. The dicastery has cancelled all international meetings until January 2021, although it is planning for a few young people from Panama, where World Youth Day was celebrated in 2019, to hand the World Youth Day cross to a few young people from Lisbon on November 22, the feast of Christ the King. The handoff originally was scheduled for April 5, on Palm Sunday, but was postponed because of the lockdowns and travel bans in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus. If the young representatives from Panama and Portugal are not able to travel to Rome in November, Cardinal Farrell said, Panamanians and Portuguese already living in Rome will participate in the event.—CNS

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in the chapel of his Vatican residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae on April 2020. The pope offered the Mass for politicians and prayed that political parties “may seek together the good of the country and not the good of their own party” during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo: Vatican Media/CNS)

Pope: Politicians must put country over party BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

OPE Francis began his April 20 morning Mass by praying for political leaders and calling on them to put the welfare of their people above their party’s interests during the coronavirus pandemic. “We pray today for the men and women who have a vocation to politics; politics is a high form of charity,” he said, adding a prayer “for the political parties of various countries so that, in this moment of pandemic, they may seek together the good of the country and not the good of their own party”. In his homily at the Mass, the pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St John in which Nicodemus, a Pharisee, tells Jesus that he believes he is “a teacher who has come from God for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him”. Jesus’ response that “unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God”, confuses Nicodemus who took the response literally, Pope Francis explained. Yet, Jesus’ answer is a call for Nicodemus to “be born of Spirit”, which is unpredictable like the wind but makes a person free, the pope said. “A person who lets himself or herself be carried from one side to another by the Holy Spirit—this is

the freedom of the Spirit,” he said. While obeying the Ten Commandments is important, it is not what defines a good Christian, he added. A good Christian allows “the Spirit to enter you and take you where he wants you”. “To be born again means letting the Spirit enter into us and allowing the Spirit, not myself, to guide me,” the pope said. To be born again is to be “free with this freedom of the Spirit in which you will never know where you will end up”. Pope Francis also spoke about the day’s first reading in which Peter and John visited the Christian community following their release from interrogation by the chief priests and elders. Although the community was frightened by what they were told, the pope added, “they did not take precautionary measures” but instead prayed and allowed “the Spirit to tell them what to do”. “They raised their voices to God saying, ‘Lord!’—this beautiful prayer in a dark moment, a moment when they have to make decisions and don’t know what to do,” he said. “They want to be born of the Spirit. “How does one be born again?” Pope Francis asked. “Through prayer! Prayer is what opens the door to the Spirit.”—CNS

SEXUAL DEMONS AND CHILD ABUSE

Google: Sineglossa. blogspot.com

CASA SERENA The retirement home with the Italian flair. 7A Marais Road, Bedfordview, Jhb. Provides full board and lodging, medical services and transport. Senior citizens wishing to retire in this beautiful Home, please phone

011 284 2917 www.casaserena.co.za

24-hours Crisis Helpline Number: 064 679-7279

The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Southern Cross indeed serves whole Church W

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

A new world

E are currently going through a crisis which is described by some as a “black swan event”: an unexpected, uncommon and widereaching situation that has severe consequences, usually accompanied by claims that they should have been anticipated. Other examples of “black swan events” are the stock market crash of 1929 which resulted in a global economic depression; the full extent of World War II; the terror attacks of September 11, 2001; and the economic crash of 2008. All of these events had severe consequences, and significant responses. Some were positive: the New Deal in the US in the depression of the 1930s, or the rise of the welfare system in much of Europe after World War II. Other consequences were decidedly destructive. These include the march of totalitarianism, especially fascism, in Europe during the depression; the enslavement of Eastern Europe under Soviet rule after World War II; global paranoia and the destablisation of the Middle East after 9/11; the trap of austerity measures and the increasing wealth gap after the crash of 2008. The crash of 2008 especially presented an opportunity for a recalibration of the economic system, from neoliberal capitalism and its fraudulent claims of the trickle-down economy towards one that closes the wealth gap and takes care of its poor, along the lines of what the Catholic Church under Pope Benedict XVI proposed at the time. History records that in neoliberal systems, the poor and the middle-classes were made to subsidise the rich—and make them even richer—through the imposition of austerity measures. If anything, neoliberal capitalism has become even more rampant in the decade that followed, with selfishness and greed the prevailing norm. In the United States, it has been seriously argued, and expressed in the administration’s policies, that it is better to let people die from Covid-19 than have restrictive measures affect the economy. As pro-life people, Catholics must be shocked at such callousness, born of worship of money. The world will now have an opportunity to reshape its politi-

The Editor reserves the right to shorten or edit published letters. Letters below 300 words receive preference. Pseudonyms are acceptable only under special circumstances and at the Editor’s discretion. Name and address of the writer must be supplied. No anonymous letter will be considered.

cal, economic and social order. To use the term which soon will be a cliché, there will be a new normal, and with it a chance to dump the “old normal”. We must work towards a new normal where care for the weakest in society, not its wealthiest, is a principal priority, as it is in many countries in the current crisis. We must work towards a new normal where the economic system acts with ethics and compassion. We must work towards a society that, as Pope Francis puts it, compels people to prepare for a “collective future” which sees the whole human family as one and holds all of the earth’s gifts in common in order to be shared justly with those in need. There is a blueprint in place for such a society: the Catholic Social Teachings, which emphasise human dignity and the common good in society. After Covid-19, business cannot continue as usual. Solidarity across class, political, demographic and national lines is the only antidote to a future dominated by greed and violent reaction to it. In many regions there will be a taste of violent reaction to poverty. South Africa and other countries must prepare for social unrest—and in light of the economic consequences of the coronavirus, the social instability could spread beyond the poorest of our society. We must also beware of the flipside to our aspirations for a fairer society. While many in South Africa’s government have genuinely sought to work towards the common good, there are some who seem to unduly enjoy the powers invested in them during this state of disaster. We must beware of politicians who might use social unrest as a pretext for imposing curfews and crackdowns, and thus undermine our civil rights. Indeed, people in democracies across the world must be alert to the fact that the successful experiment of restrictions of free movement and lockdowns—which in the case of a pandemic are justifiable—might give some politicians bad ideas. Undue restrictions will have to be strongly resisted. The post-coronavirus society presents us with both opportunity and menace. We must not be idle in reshaping our world for the better.

HAT are we to make of the conflicting episcopal views on The Southern Cross carried in your edition of April 15? On the front page, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, president of the bishops’ conference, gives the paper his strong endorsement, describing it as a “lighthouse that keeps the Word shining”. He notes that “The Southern Cross has kept us connected in faith for 100 years”, and pleads for parish priests and organisations to support it. But on the letters page Cardinal Wilfrid Napier tells us fairly plainly that he does not support it, at least not “in its present form”. He says that “a number of times […] bishops are presented in unflattering terms”, and suggests that the paper “regularly carries negative reports about […] bishops in general”. Unless I have missed something, I cannot recall a Southern Cross report that portrayed the bishops, individually or corporately, in

unflattering terms. But I do know that the paper gives regular coverage to episcopal statements, to conference initiatives such as the recently-launched Pastoral Plan, and to retirements, transferrals and new appointments among the bishops. These are always conveyed in terms that, if not actually flattering, are certainly positive. The cardinal asks, conceding that it may be a selfish question, “What has The Southern Cross done for me, for the bishops, for the Church?” Surely the provision of Catholic news and analysis from here and abroad; the generous coverage of papal and Vatican affairs; the regular spiritual, pastoral and liturgical columns and opinion pieces; and the wide range of feature articles of theological and historical interest, are what the paper does for the Church. And surely, since the interests of the Church and its bishops necessarily coincide, this is also what the

‘SC headline and Shock at tone of note disingenuous’ cardinal’s letter

F ever I needed a reason not to support The Southern Cross, it is the headline over my letter to the editor (April 15), and the editor’s comment that followed it. In spite of my deliberate efforts to avoid personalising the issue of supporting The Southern Cross by putting my punchline in the form of a question, namely, “Who in his right mind would support...?”, the newspaper has chosen to do just that. Nowhere in my letter did I say I don’t support The Southern Cross. What I did say, when I was describing my silence at the paper’s board meeting, is that I held my peace rather than “fake an interest in something that I didn’t have a passion for in its present form”. I proceeded immediately to propose the kind of things that I believe a Catholic newspaper should be doing to build up the faith at this time. In other words: That’s the kind of Southern Cross that I could wholeheartedly support! As I once said on the phone when I was enquiring why one of my letters had not been published, not knowing that it was the editor who was on the line: “For some reason, it seems, Günther doesn’t like me!” I sincerely hope that your choice of headline in this instance does not bear that out! Cardinal Wilfrid Napier OFM, Durban

ST ANTHONYS CHILD and YOUTH CARE CENTRE Keeping Children safe within families

admin@stanthonyshome.org www.stanthonyshome.org

WAS really shocked to see the lead letter in The Southern Cross by Cardinal Wilfrid Napier OFM (April 15). We are all under stress and fearful of the future. Covid-19 has pushed the whole world into a massive crisis. Lives are at stake—from the virus and from looming mass unemployment. Do your newspaper’s staff have families to feed and take care of? Does the cardinal not care about the unemployed? I find it wrong for a man of the cloth to say what he said, putting the livelihoods of others at stake and encouraging people not to support The Southern Cross. It is incomprehensible that on the front page the bishops’ conference president supports the newspaper, yet inside Cardinal Napier defames it. It also made me wonder about cliques and divisions among the bishops. Is our hierarchy divided, sending contradictory messages? I found the letter to display a vengeful heart, all because the newspaper publishes voices other than those of the bishops, sometimes voices that ask questions. Does the cardinal think bishops are above being critiqued? Has he listened to our great leader Pope Francis? The pope has often encouraged everyone to speak freely, to be honest and not hold back. Cardinal Napier’s letter suggests some bishops do not believe in listening to differing opinions. Are they not interested in what people think? Instead of leading in this Covid19 crisis, the cardinal wastes time and energy attacking our only Catholic newspaper, the only national newspaper the bishops have for communicating! It would have been better to remain silent; this was below the dignity of a cardinal. Do Cardinal Napier and his bishop colleagues have nothing else to offer except reprints of the catechism? Is that all the Church has? No wonder young people turn away. Do bishops think The Southern Cross is there to be their voice alone, a voice that so far has offered us little as we struggle with Covid-19? When will bishops understand that they no longer control the narrative? Those days are past. If the cardinal’s letter does reflect the mind of the bishops, we are in a very sad place. If not, I hope that other bishops will affirm their support by writing on these pages. Cardinal Napier’s letter left me disillusioned by our Church leadership. We stare into a crisis and this is what we are fed? I have only one question for the cardinal and the bishops: Why should we bother to support anything they ask us for? Gavin Samuels, Bloemfontein

publication does for the bishops. Moreover, since we are talking about The Southern Cross’s supposed lack of service to bishops, let’s not forget the little box that appears in most editions, noting the birthdays and ordination anniversaries of each of our bishops. A small thing, perhaps, but a filial and affectionate one that helps to personalise the bishops and to bring them into the reader’s thoughts and prayers. Cardinal Napier’s broad charge that the paper is somehow unsupportive of the bishops or of the Church cannot be sustained. But, coming from a leader of his seniority and status, it is one that could harm our only national Catholic newspaper very seriously. That would be bad enough at any time, let alone now, when the shock of the Covid-19 lockdown has combined with the gradual decline of the print media to threaten its very existence. Mike Pothier, Cape Town Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. Letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

Cardinal Napier wrong on SC

OW sad it is when a “prince” of our Church finds it necessary to misrepresent himself and write fallaciously to The Southern Cross. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier should be ashamed of himself to declare that he doesn’t support The Southern Cross “in its present form” (April 15). Thankfully, the editor’s comment at the end of the letter clearly addresses the embarrassing statements of the cardinal. How vain is it to ask: “What has The Southern Cross done for me?” Are these truly the wise words of a Christian, Catholic, cardinal? The Southern Cross has done so much for the Church, for the bishops and the laity, over many years. The editor of this excellent Catholic newspaper has always given readers “the right to respond if they believe they have been treated unfairly”. When was a reader allowed to “let off steam” and the recipient of that “steam” not given the opportunity to rebuff comments; and when did a reader use “blazing guns” to make a point and not have recourse to set the perceived “unflattering terms” right? Cardinal Napier says he finds it “enervating” that The Southern Cross omits to “listen to the other side”. This is a false indictment. The editor is a professional journalist and well known as a committed proponent of “freedom of speech”. The publishing of the cardinal’s bitter, negative, angry letter is proof of this ethos. Yet, it is expected that another reader’s angry letter be referred to “whomever” for “forewarning”. It is unfortunate that the cardinal feels so aggrieved. I have personally posted a letter in the past about some ignoble conduct of the cardinal. I firmly and honestly believe what I said to be a truthful opinion to which the cardinal had full right to respond. He chose not to. Possibly, one could deduce: “If the cap fits, wear it!” The cardinal is a leading dignitary and servant of the Church and therefore should not only take ownership of this publication, which has the full support of the bishops’ conference—as evidenced by Bishop Sithembele Sipuka’s statement of support on the front page of the same edition—but also dedicate himself to seeing that it is successful in its mission, and if he finds that it is not, should have the courage and fortitude to take some responsibility to see that it is. Tony Meehan, Cape Town

Insights Supplement Exclusive to the subscribers’ version of our digital edition

6th-century mosaic of Jesus The Holy Face of Genoa, re- Negative image of the face on 7th-century fresco in the cata- 13th-century Christ Pantocraputedly the face on the Image the Shroud of Turin, believed comb of St Ponziano, Rome, tor mosaic in the Hagia as a Roman emperor in by many to be of Christ. with mark on the forehead. Sophia in Istanbul. Ravenna’s San Vitale basilica. of Edessa.

1648 painting of “The Head of Christ” by Rembrandt in Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie.

Looking for the face of Jesus What did Jesus look like? The Gospels give us no physical description of the Son of God. GÜNTHER SIMMERMACHER looks for Jesus’ face.

Images from the third century and later tended to represent Jesus in the fashion of Romans: cleanshaven and neatly shorn of long hair. In one 6th-century image, kept in Ravenna, Italy, he even appears as a Roman emperor as he defeats Satan. In the West, beardless Christs still appeared in art until the 12th century. After that, the artistic consensus represented him with facial hair. That image became so entrenched that Michelangelo got himself in trouble when he included a clean-shaven Christ in his Last Judgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel.

the first known painting of a bearded Christ, the 6th-century icon of Christ Pantocrator in St Catherine’s monastery in Egypt’s Sinai desert, bears a striking resemblance to the image on the shroud, even that the physiognomic characteristics of the faces match exactly. Painted in around 550 AD, the icon’s Jesus is unmistakably Semitic. As in the shroud image, the face is long, the nose crooked, the lips fleshy, and the eyes are big beneath a strong brow. A late 7th-century wall painting of Christ Pantocrator in the catacomb of St Ponziano in Rome is often presented as a smoking gun that the iconography of Christ was based on the image on the Turin Shroud. In the fresco, a distinctive topless square mark is seen on Christ’s forehead—exactly the shape that can be seen on the shroud, due to a fault in the weave. Why would the artist have included a random shape on the forehead, one that is identical to that on the shroud whose existence is first documented in the 1350s, half a millennium after the catacomb of St Ponziano closed?

HE Gospels are silent on whether Jesus was handsome or plain, tall or short, whether he had long hair or was bald, bearded or shaven. To the evangelists it didn’t matter. After all, Jewish law prohibited the depiction of human figures, in line with the Second Commandment, so there was no need to describe Jesus’ appearance, nor to create images of his likeness. Living much of his time during the public ministry on the road, Jesus might not have had much time to cut his hair, and as a Jewish man of his time, he most likely sported a beard. As a Semite, he probably had the features of any number of Palestinians today. So the popular images of Jesus with blow-dried hair, fair complexion and Caucasian features The Shroud of Turin probably do not correspond with Some argue that the Turin reality. He will have been oliveskinned and Middle Eastern in ap- Shroud is, in fact, the lost Image pearance, with limited access to of Edessa, which was reputed to be “created by God, and not prohaircare products. For those who believe that the duced by the hands of man”. Famous in its day, it disapShroud of Turin bears the genuine imprint of the crucified Jesus, the peared in 1204 during the sack of inquest into his likeness ends Constantinople by French Crusaders, some 150 years before the here. Indeed, the shroud may well be shroud appeared in the possession of a French descendant the answer, for the from a Crusader family. evidence that it is a The Image of Edessa first-century burial The face is oval (also called Mandylion) cloth of a man who with fairly big is first referred to by the was crucified in historian Palestine in the maneyes, with his 4th-century Eusebius—the bishop of ner of the execution nose big and Caesarea in Palestine of Jesus of Nazareth whom historians don’t as described in the slightly hooked trust as being reliable— Gospels is more comand positively docupelling than the at the tip. It mented in modern-day proposition that the seems to have Turkey in 520. shroud is a medieval Few artistic represenfraud. The shroud image been previously tations of the Edessa cloth have survived. depicts a lean man of broken One of them is the Holy about 1,80m in Face of Genoa, an icon height. His hair is long and he has a that was reproduced from an earbeard. The face is oval and the eye lier one which was reputed to be of the image on the Mandylion. sockets suggest that the man had The Holy Face of Genoa bears a fairly big eyes (on the image the strong resemblance to the Christ eyes seem to be covered by coins, Pantocrator icon at St Catherine’s according to Jewish burial custom as well as to the image on the of the time). His nose, big and shroud: long hair, beard, oval face, slightly hooked at the tip, seems big eyes, strong brow, big (but unto have been broken, presumably broken) nose, fleshy lips. before the crucifixion (cf Jn The Edessa cloth was brought 19:36). to the Hagia Sophia basilica—then There are some who argue that the centre of the Eastern Church—

Blue-eyed Jesus

The 6th-century icon of Christ Pantocrator, kept in St Catherine’s monastery in Egypt’s Sinai desert, set the template for depictions of Christ with a beard and long hair. Some believe that the physiognomy of the face on the icon and that on the Shroud of Turin match up perfectly. in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in August 944. In the basilica’s famous Deisis mosaic of Christ with his mother and John the Baptist, made in 1261, Jesus bears a strong resemblance to the Sinai icon. At that time, an 11th-century mosaic of the Edessa image still existed in the apse of the Hagia Sophia; it disappeared some time after the 17th century. Was the face of Jesus in the Dei-

sis mosaic based on the traditional Christ Pantocrator iconography, or on the Edessa cloth mosaic—or both?

Christ Pantocrator The Christ Pantocrator icon is the source of all future depictions of the bearded, long-haired Jesus in art and, more lately, on film. But especially in the West, earlier depictions of Jesus showed a variety of physical characteristics.

While the Eastern icons of Christ retained the Semitic features of Christ, Western art localised Jesus. He became increasingly handsome (at least by the standards of the time) and dramatic. The Jesus of the West usually was pale and European, much as more recently African, Asian or Latin American art has inculturated depictions of Christ to reflect the physical characteristics of the people in their regions. The 17th-century Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn returned to the ethnographical view of Jesus, choosing as his model a young Sephardic Jew who lived in the neighbourhood. It was quite revolutionary, and not only in artistic terms: here a European painter chose a Jew to represent Christ at a time when Jews were persecuted by the followers of Christ. The irony, one suspects, was lost on the persecutors. Rembrandt’s depictions of Jesus were influential, not by way of setting a template but by overturning the previous, more rigid templates. In 2001 a BBC documentary on the face of Jesus attempted to find the face of Jesus by way of reconstructing a face from the skull of a 1st-century man from Palestine. The result was the swarthy, round face of a man with short, curly hair and a trimmed beard. Clearly the man was not Jesus, and the model obviously was a gimmick. But it clearly communicated one thing: Jesus of Nazareth undeniably was a Semite. When one goes to the Holy Land and sees the faces of the Palestinians of Nazareth, Cana or Bethlehem, one sees the faces of Mary, of Simon Peter, of Mary Magdalene—and perhaps even that of Jesus. n Günther Simmermacher is the editor of The Southern Cross and the author of The Holy Land Trek: A Pilgrim’s Guide.

Supplement to The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

INSIGHT

Big Bang priest still makes noise Catholics who are confronted by critics of the Church with the falsehood that faith is incompatible with science might respond by pointing to the Belgian priest who discovered the Big Bang theory. DENNIS SADOWSKI explains

“The sciences of our day are no less than being sources of truth than anything else. The sense Augustine brought to all of this was, just don’t try to use this book called Genesis or the book called the Bible as a way of embarrassing yourselves in front of scientists,” said Fr Fitzgerald, who at one time pursued a career as a physicist. “Once [scientific discovery] reaches a state of true being, we can’t use the Bible to beat it back,” he said.

Religion and science

HE work of researchers who reported detecting the signal left behind by the rapid expansion of space billions of years ago is rooted in the efforts of a Belgian priest whose mathematical computations in the 1920s laid the groundwork for the Big Bang theory. Mgr George Lemaître, a mathematician who studied alongside leading scientists of the first half of the 20th century exploring the origins of the universe, suggested that the cosmos began as a super-dense “primeval atom” that underwent some type of reaction that initiated the expansion of the universe ,which continues today. The priest’s conclusions challenged the conventional hypothesis proposed by luminaries such as Albert Einstein and Fred Hoyle that the universe was in a steady state. Researchers in cosmology over the decades refined Mgr Lemaître’s idea, leading to what became widely known as the Big Bang theory and later ideas that signs of the Big Bang can be detected. The most recent evidence supporting the Big Bang emerged in March when a team of scientists announced they had detected polarisation in light caused by primordial gravitational waves originating from the Big Bang. The measurements were made with the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarisation experiment, or Biceps2, located near the South Pole. Scientists had theorised that such waves would have been produced in the universe’s first trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second as it underwent an exponential expansion 13,8 billion years ago, sending ripples throughout the universe that can still be detected.

Mgr George Lemaître with Albert Einstein. The Belgian priest, who died in 1966, was the first proponent of the Big Bang theory. Like Mgr Lemaître, Catholic theologians stress that there is no conflict between scientific inquiry into the beginnings of the universe and the Catholic faith. Other research teams are seeking to confirm the findings. If the existence of gravitational waves is confirmed, it will provide the most direct evidence yet for the rapid expansion of space, also known as the theory of inflation, said Ronald Olowin, professor of astrophysics at St Mary’s College in California. Inflation was proposed in 1980 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) physicist Alan Guth. In information provided by MIT, Dr Guth described inflation as the “propulsion mechanism” that caused the universe to undergo tremendous expansion in a fraction of a second. The discovery also provides more evidence to support Einstein’s general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics governing motion in the universe, Prof Olowin said. Mgr Lemaître’s work focused on interpreting Einstein’s theory and analysing measurements of galactic motion by astronomer Edwin Hubble. The priest’s computations pointed to a constantly expanding

Souther n Cros s Pilgrimage

MEDJUGORJE • ROME

universe and by extrapolation backward to the primeval atom.

Applause from Einstein The priest’s work has long been held in high regard by generations of scientists. Even Einstein, who at first was sceptical of the calculations, literally stood up and applauded Mgr Lemaître’s explanation of the origins of the universe during a series of seminars in California in 1933. Mgr Lemaître, who taught for most of his career at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, died on June 22, 1966 at 71 knowing that he was on the right trail. He was told shortly before his death that scientists had measured cosmic microwave background radiation. By the late 1990s, researchers also concluded that the universe was expanding at an increasing rate, which Mgr Lemaître’s computations had shown to be happening. “He’s really come into his own after a few decades of obscurity,” said John Farrell, the author of The Day Without Yesterday: Lemaître, Einstein and the Birth of Modern Cosmology. Despite the scientific disagreements, Mgr Lemaître maintained warm friendships with his col-

leagues around the world, Mr Farrell said. A more definitive challenge, however, arose as some in the scientific community believed Mgr Lemaître’s pursuits were religiously motivated in an attempt to identify a creation moment in line with Catholic teaching. Mgr Lemaître insisted there was neither a connection nor a conflict between his science and his Catholic faith. In response to a question about the connection of his work and his faith, Mgr Lemaître said that the Bible’s authors were “illuminated...on the question of salvation” and that “the idea that because they were right in their doctrine of immortality and salvation they must also be right on all other subjects is simply the fallacy of people who have an incomplete understanding of why the Bible was given at all”, according to a 1933 Literary Digest article quoted in Mr Farrell’s book. Augustinian Father Allan Fitzgerald, director of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova University in Philadelphia, said there should be no conflict between faith and scientific discovery. He explained that St Augustine of Hippo expressed openness to truth wherever it could be found.

Jesuit Father Gabriele Gionti, who studies quantum gravity at the Vatican Observatory, said that as a scientist he draws a distinction between the beginning of the universe and creation, and finds no contradiction between religion and science. “Creation does not coincide with the beginning of our universe,” he explained. “I tend to separate theological terms from scientific terms. This discovery proves, quite clearly, that the human mind is able to find mathematical models, like cosmic inflation, which could describe quite accurately nature,” he said. “This is totally in agreement with the doctrine of imago Dei, which says that God created human beings as God’s image and as such we are like God, capable of discovering the secrets of nature,” the Jesuit said. John O’Keefe, professor of theology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, said the apparent measurement of gravitational waves and their connection to the early moments of the life of the universe “doesn’t change a whole lot except to make it even more likely that the Big Bang theory is the best scientific explanation for the origin of the universe”. He expressed concern that the mainstream media continues to press the idea of conflict between science and religion. “A lot of people still don’t understand that the Big Bang theory is not threatening to Christian faith,” Prof O’Keefe said. “I think Catholics need to spend a little more time reading what our tradition teaches rather than just taking the word of the evening news,” he said. “The evening news is totally distorting between science and religion, that there is a war between science and religion when there really isn’t.”—CNS

ASSISI • LORETO ed! ! n o tp ES Pos DAT W NE

NEW DATES: 19-28 October 2020 Led by Archbishop Stephen Brislin

Pray in Medjugorje and visit Rome, with papal audience, Assisi, the town of St Francis, Loreto with Mary’s House. Plus a tour of historic Split in Croatia. ThRee counTRieS in one TouR!

For more information or to book contact Gail at

info@fowlertours.co.za or phone 076 352-3809

www.fowlertours/medju

The 10-metre South Pole Telescope and Biceps2 are seen against the night sky with the Milky Way. Citing measurements from the telescope and Biceps2, astronomers announced in March that they detected ripples in the fabric of space-time that echo the massive expansion of the universe that took place just after the Big Bang. (Photo: Keith Vanderlinde/National Science Foundation via Reuters)

INSIGHT

Supplement to The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

III

Should we still believe in miracles? In a world of science, does it still make sense to believe in miracles? Deacon BERNARD FARRELLROBERTS explains why we can.

GREW up believing in miracles because I was told by the Church that they existed. However, in today’s world, is that enough? Today it seems that we are often told what to believe and not to believe by our scientists, and that many scientists do not believe that miracles can happen, because they understand that these would contravene the laws of nature. So, does it make sense to talk of miracles in the 21st century, in a universe of which we now know so much, when miracles so clearly don’t fit in with our now considerable scientific knowledge? These are the questions that spring into practically everyone’s minds, but the reality of a miracle is not really so strange, and in fact there is no necessary incompatibility with science. A bold statement you might think—if so, read on!

What is a miracle? A miracle is made up of three elements. l The first of these is that it surprises us. It does not seem to be possible. It does not appear to fit in with nature and what we understand to be the natural order. It is astounding. l The second element is that it is significant, it has a significance beyond first sight. Take the example

of Floribeth Mora, a Costa Rican woman diagnosed terminally ill by doctors due to a brain aneurysm who made a full recovery. The added significance? This miracle forming an essential element of a canonisation process, providing the miracle Pope Francis needed to canonise St John Paul II. And secondly, this miracle, just like others, is also not just a sign of God’s power—it is an act of love, an act of mercy directed by God towards an individual, in this case Floribeth Mora. l The third element is the ontological one, and this is considered by many to be the most difficult to understand and accept. In the past, many notable thinkers, such as Voltaire, felt that to believe in miracles was insulting to God, as this was tantamount to saying that God got his creation wrong! However, this manner of thinking came about as a result of the knowledge that existed at the time, that understood creation to have been a single act in which everything was created. Now we see our universe as one in evolution, as a universe that is becoming more perfect. God, as the source of being, empowers and perfects the world in order to lead it to its fullness, and this empowerment by God does not act against the universe—quite the contrary, it is the empowerment of the universe itself.

How does a miracle occur? St Thomas Aquinas used a cause and effect diagram to explain this. An alarm clock—the cause—wakes you up—the effect. A natural cause may have many effects, although

the Pharisees, admitted that he carried out these acts. At all levels of the books of the New Testament we find such accounts, leading to the belief that they did in fact happen, and are historical acts.

Miracles vs nature?

There is no inherent contradiction between the science of nature and the Christian belief in miracles. these will always occur within a range of possibilities. In the case of a miracle, however, the cause produces an effect that goes beyond this natural range of action, and for this reason it causes in us a feeling of amazement. We did not expect it, because the cause exceeded its expected possibilities. How can this happen? For Aquinas it is only explicable if we think of God as the source of all being and of all the actions of all created realities. In the case of a miracle, God is able to enrich the natural ability of a cause so that on this occasion it is able to do more than it ordinarily does. Since God alone is the source of all being and actions, only he is able to enrich this cause, to empower this additional action, and for this reason only God is able to

perform miracles. Why shouldn’t we think of a miracle then not as something that acts against nature, but as an enabling of the universe, an enabling of nature, something that falls within nature, and not outside it? God opts to give to a cause a strength that goes beyond what it is ordinarily capable of now, and for this reason it is able to do more than it ordinarily can. In the Gospels there are some 40 accounts of miracles performed by Jesus, many involving the curing of specific individuals, and some miracles performed over nature, such as the walking on water. But did these actually take place? The weight of evidence points at just this. In the Gospel of Mark nearly 50% of the verses up to the Passion refer to miracles, and even the adversaries of Christ, such as

We must always bear in mind that there is still an awful lot that we do not know about nature. Despite the incredible pace at which the sciences are developing today, we only have to look around to see countless examples of “truths” of the past that are no longer true in the present. Bloodletting occurred until William Harvey told us that blood circulated the body. Metal objects couldn’t fly until our understanding of aerodynamics developed. Organ transplants were not possible until we discovered that it was possible to counteract a body’s natural rejection of donor organs. Just because we believe that something is not possible for nature, does that mean that it really isn’t? We must keep open minds, living according to current knowledge, but always remaining open to future correction, and open to the empowering acts of God, the Creator of all nature. You can find out more about miracles, and other matters from the dialogue between science and faith, by studying the online courses offered at www.scienceandfaithonline.com n Deacon Bernard Farrell-Roberts is the course director and senior tutor of the Science and Faith in Dialogue programme at the Theological Faculty of Barcelona, Spain.

How Church tells real miracles apart from fakes W

A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Marian apparitions are just one of several categories of miracles. (Photo: Victor Aleman, Vida-Nueva.com)

HAT do a grilled cheese sandwich and the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe have in common? Both bore what appeared to be images of Mary. One was determined to be authentically miraculous, the other was not. Not to spoil any secrets, but it’s not Our Lady of the Grilled Cheese that converted Mexico and continues to draw millions of people on pilgrimage every year. But have you ever wondered just how the Church determines the bogus from the divinely appointed? In his 2014 book, Exploring the Miraculous, Michael O’Neill gives readers a crash course of sorts in Miracles 101—including common questions about the importance of miracles, an explanation of the approval process, and descriptions of the various types of miracles found within the Catholic Church. Catholics by definition are people who have to believe in at least two miracles, Mr O’Neill said: that of Christ’s incarnation and his Resurrection, two pillars on which the Catholic faith rests. For modern-day miracles, belief is never required of the faithful. The highest recognition that the Church gives to an alleged miracle is that it is “worthy of belief”. Investigations of reported miraculous events—which include extensive fact-finding, psychological examination and theological evaluation—may result in a rejection if the event is determined to be fraudulent or lacking in supernatural character. Or the Church may take a middle road, declaring that there is nothing contrary to the faith in a supposed apparition, without making a determination on whether a supernatural character is present. But while official investigations can take years, the mere report of a miracle can bring Catholics from long distances, hoping to see some glimpse of the divine reaching into the human.

And it’s not just the faithful who find miracles fascinating. “It's important for atheists and sceptics, those people who don’t believe, they’ve got to have an explanation for the inexplicable,” he said. “There’s something for everyone.”

What attracts people? The universal nature of the experience of the miraculous is also what draws people from all belief spectrums to these stories, Mr O’Neill added. “We all pray for miracles of one sort or another. They can be these really sort of small things like praying for an impossible comeback in a football game, or it can be a lost wallet or wedding ring,” he said. “But they can also be these really big things, such as our loved ones, they fall away from the faith and we want them to return, or somebody from our friends or our family is very sick and we desperately implore God’s help for them. It’s something that everybody experiences.” The author’s own fascination with miracles started in college, when for an archaeology assignment he studied the miraculous tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Marian apparition to which he’d inherited his mother’s devotion. He had heard stories about miracles associated with the image, both from within his own family and from the larger Church, and he wondered how much truth there was to the tales. He also started learning about the larger tradition of miracles within the Church, and was struck by how the Church has carefully investigated thousands of claims over the years, only to select certain ones that it eventually deems as of divine origin. “I thought that was fascinating that the Church would stick its neck out and say these things are worthy of belief,” he said. A miracle is “a way that people feel connected to God, they know

that God is a loving father watching out for them, so it’s one of those things—a miracle is a universal touchstone”, he said. “No matter how strong we think our faith is or want it to be, we always want to know that God is there for us, and miracles are that sort of element that bridges the gap between our faith and our connection with God.” In his book, Mr O’Neill provides descriptions and examples of every basic category of miracle within the Catholic Church, including healing miracles from saints in the canonisation process, biblical miracles, apparitions, locutions (audible messages from God or a saint), miraculous images, Eucharistic miracles, incorrupt bodies (those that either partially or fully do not decompose after death), and stigmata (the wounds of Christ appearing on some living people).

Most popular miracles The most popular kinds of miracle, and Mr O’Neill’s personal favourite, are Marian apparitions— when Mary appears in a supernatural and corporeal way to a member of the faithful, most often with a message. Curiosity about Marian apparitions was also a large part of what spurred Mr O’Neill to create his website, miraclehunter.com, where he files information about miracles in their respective categories and provides information on their origin story and whether or not they have been approved by the Vatican. Mr O’Neill also loves Eucharistic miracles, because unlike several other types of miracles, whose validity is largely determined by faithful and reliable witnesses, science can be applied. “They can check to see if it’s really human blood, and what type of blood, and in some cases you have heart muscle in these hosts that has turned into true flesh,” he said.—CNA

Supplement to The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

INSIGHT

Meet a great witness for Christ A remarkable nun who might become a saint one day was born in Pretoria in 1901. FR KEVIN REYNOLDS introduces us to Sr Mary of the Holy Trinity.

Sister Mary of the Holy Trinity joins the other causes for sainthood with a South African connection.

The

HE universal Church places a great importance on people being raised to sainthood. Saints essentially remind us that living the way of Christ is possible. So in the Creed, we profess our belief in the community of saints. A particularly appealing aspect of the canonisation process exists when it is held for someone of one’s own country. To date, no South African has yet been raised to the altars of the Church. At present, there are a few people from our country whose cause for sainthood is in the pipeline. Bl Benedict Daswa, the martyr of Tzaneen, became the first South African to be beatified in September 2015. Another is the Austrian-born founder of the Missionaries of Mariannhill and the Precious Blood Sisters, Abbot Francis Pfanner. Also, the cause of the Johannesburg couple Domitillia and Danny Hyams has entered the early stages. And then there is a Poor Clare

S outher n C ross

Jubilee Year Camino to Santiagode Compostela

Sister, Mary of the Holy Trinity. Louise Jacques was born of Protestant parents in Pretoria on April 20, 1901. Her mother died soon after Louise’s birth. Her father, who was a missionary, decided to take baby Louise, her two sisters and their brother as well as an aunt to his native Switzerland. There the children were raised by Aunt Alice who became a second mother to them. Louise grew up in poor health, with pulmonary troubles. This did not affect her lively intelligence and love of culture. She worked briefly as a teacher and a secretary before returning to South Africa with her father in 1921. Returning to Europe again, Louise was treated in a clinic for tuberculosis. Her love for her relations and her compassion for others in pain and suffering caused Louise so many trials and disappointments that she sank into despair. In the depth of her spiritual misery, Louise felt that life was not worth living. She even doubted the existence of God.

Woman in a dark robe However, Christ manifested his care for her in a remarkable way. It is held that on the evening of February 13, 1925, Louise awoke to see an apparition of a woman in a dark robe at her bedside. All fear and despair seemed to leave her immediately. Light and peace flooded her soul to guide her on her way. There and then Louise decided to become a nun. Two years later she first became a Catholic. The conflict with her family which this decision provoked caused Louise much distress. Her search for a convent to accept her despite her poor health lasted nearly ten years. After a few failed attempts to join the religious life, Louise was finally accepted in 1939 by the Poor Clares’ convent in Jerusalem in what was then Palestine. From the moment Louise entered this strict order, she made remarkable progress in her spiritual life. Her superiors record that “in spite of her independent character, she became, by degrees, a docile and obedient member of the community”.

Her charity tempered her ardent zeal as a convert who wished to share her own spiritual enthusiasm. In 1940, like another contemplative before her, St Thérèse of Lisieux, upon the orders of her confessor, Sr Mary began recounting her spiritual journey in French. This was translated later into English. It records her spiritual story in the form of letters to her confessor. Sr Mary’s diary naturally starts with a short account of her conversion and vocation. This book, published only after her death, has proved to be the means of great help and spiritual revival for many. After a life of spiritual intensity and much physical suffering, this holy nun died of influenza in June 1942. She is buried in the Poor Clares’ convent grounds in Jerusalem.

SA visits to her grave Over the years, many South Africans and those ministering in this country, such as Archbishop emeritus William Slattery and Fr Hyacinth Ennis OFM, both of Pretoria, and the late Southern Cross columnist Owen Williams, have visited Sr Mary’s grave. In a March 2004 column, Mr Williams described this cemetery as an island of tranquility in a troubled city. During one crisis of physical weakness, Sr Mary wrote: “I have but one thought which continuously returns to me and which gives me strength—Heart of Jesus, I trust in you.” Interestingly, in 1963 Pretoria’s Portuguese church was built a stone’s throw from Sr Mary’s place of birth in Pretoria West. It is also noteworthy that the motto of Archbishop Emeritus George Daniel’s coat of arms, “That they may be one” (John 17:21), describes well the mission of Sr Mary’s life. Her being born Protestant but dying Catholic certainly expresses Christ’s desire for unity. n Those who believe they have received grace through the intercession of Sr Mary of the Holy Trinity are asked to communicate with the Father Custodian of the Holy Land (P O Box 186, Jerusalem 91001, Israel).

Official 7-Day Camino From Lugo to Santiago de Compostela

September 2021

Led by a spiritual director

To book or for info contact Gail at

info@fowlertours.co.za or call 076 352-3809

www.fowlertours.co.za/camino

The grave of Sr Mary of the Holy Trinity in Jerusalem.

The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

PERSPECTIVES

Can a school be ‘Catholic’ online? Mark T Potterton HE coronavirus has caused major disruption to education around the globe. UNESCO reported that nine out of ten of the world’s children were out of school at the start of April. The challenge around the world is how to ensure that the impact on children’s learning is minimised. As soon as it became clear that the Covid-19 pandemic would impact on schooling at Sacred Heart College in Johannesburg, where I serve as principal of the primary school, we began talking about how we would continue school using the online platforms available to us. Can we still be a “Catholic” school online? A lot has been written about the nature and purpose of the Catholic school. The best definition, in my view, was written by the late Prof Peter Hunter and Paul Faller, who proposed: “The purpose of the Catholic school is to provide a good all-round education in the spirit of the Gospel of Jesus, aspiring in particular to live out its central message and challenge: to worship the God who loves us, to love and help our fellow human beings, and to learn to exercise responsibility for the world around us.” Most of the descriptions of the Catholic school are really about the culture of a school. These descriptions speak about the lived values and attitudes which influence all aspects of the school’s life. They include activities in and beyond the classroom, relationships among staff members, parents and students, and disciplinary procedures. The emphasis is around people and relationships and how they deal with each other. These dimensions are all very difficult to replicate online. In the some of the Church’s documents on Catholic schools, a major focus has been the upholding of the dignity of the human person, of all beings, and of all creation, with a special concern for the poor and the marginalised. Hunter and Faller argued that the essence of this is “outreach to others, pastoral care for all, and celebration of the school’s religious character”.

When Sacred Heart College (and, I’m sure, other Catholic schools) saw that Covid-19 would affect learning, staff discussed how we would continue schooling using the online platforms available to us. In the high school and in Grade 6, teachers were familiar with Google Classroom, and that’s the technology they went with. The preschool uses WhatsApp, and does so very creatively, sending videos and photos of what children are doing. In the primary school, study packs and workbooks were sent home and teachers make use of email, the school App, phone calls and WhatsApp.

ut the danger of running online education is that it is remote and that a primary concern becomes the “transmission of knowledge”. This, in my view, is the antithesis of what Catholic education should be. It has to be about relationship and meaningful knowledge. The Church documents speak of preparing students “to take their place in society as responsible, honest and compassionate citizens”. Teaching and learning must be shaped by a Catholic vision of life. At our school we decided that we would make it personal and include weekly phonecalls to the parents, as well as make the services of the school coun-

With 90% of the world’s pupils out of school, those with the necessary means have adopted online learning. But, asks Dr Mark Potterton, is that enough for Catholic schools?

Point of Education

sellor available. The feedback from parents suggests that it is the personalised dimension of online learning that is appreciated by both them and the students. In a recently published UNESCO document on online learning, the authors argue that distance learning doesn’t have to mirror learning as it normally happens in school. In fact, they argue that trying to replicate the pace and type of work that would be done at school is unrealistic. Schools must decide on a daily structure, a timetable, or a to-do list of what the staff want for students. The authors strongly suggest that less is more when it comes to the scope of work which teachers set in distance-learning, especially in times of uncertainty and instability. The time we have had teaching from a distance has allowed us to see what works and what doesn’t, for both our students and parents. It has also allowed us to better understand the pace at which work gets done. We have learnt that teachers need to be flexible and need to adapt wherever possible. The UNESCO document provides instructive guidance for Catholic schools, reminding us to focus on the “whole child”. The UN agency argues that children at home don’t just need education, but that they first and foremost need to be fed and protected. Health, safety and wellbeing must always come first. These are indeed unprecedented times and Catholic schools are urgently called to respond as best we can. It is vital that in addition to worrying about the impact on teaching and learning, we think about the spiritual, psychological and social needs of children too. n Dr Mark Potterton is the primary school principal at Sacred Heart College in Johannesburg.

What the Resurrection means to me Lionel Flynn W HAT I look up to, I fear, for it is greater than me. This is Christ. Yet being greater than me, Christ humbled himself that I might be exalted through him. He accepted the fall of death, conquered it through the Father in his Resurrection in order that I might also be able to rise with him. Falling is human, but rising is divine, for it requires the power of Christ. This is why Christ stands at the door to my life, knocking, waiting for the opportunity for me to ask him to raise me up. Though I would like to rise in an instant, this is not the case since rising is a gradual process which involves self-discovery: discovering that I am powerful since I am made in the image of Christ. What I look at, I respect, for it is my equal. These are my brothers and sister in the journey of life. They share my struggles, my joys and sorrows, and through the grace of God they have received the courage and strength to overcome their weaknesses and journey towards self-discovery. I can learn from their experiences, which motivate me to overcome my own

Point of Reflection

weaknesses and to persevere in the long yet glorious journey of self-discovery: liberating the image of Christ within me. What I look down upon, I have dominion over, for it is beneath me. My weaknesses do not have dominion over me for they are all beneath me. Christ has given me the power to overcome them through his Resurrection. Christ has given me dominion over my weaknesses which suppress his image within me. All I need to do is ask him for the perseverance to endure the sufferings of the journey of self-discovery which liberates his image within me. Every single suffering I endure brings me closer to discovering myself, making me see glory in suffering, and humbling me to accept it, as Christ did. Especially in this season of Easter, this is how I look at the Resurrection of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Chris Chatteris SJ

Pray with the Pope

The deacon’s role in the parish Intention for Evangelisation: We pray that deacons, faithful in their service to the Word and the poor, may be an invigorating symbol for the entire Church. F you want to exercise the Christian virtue of humility, become a deacon. The deacon often walks in the shadow of another person, usually a priest. Whether he is a permanent deacon or a “temporary” one who will go on to the priesthood, he works with a priest but definitely under his authority, even if given the freedom to use his initiative and discretion in the exercise of his duties. For “temporary” deacons the problem can sometimes be that the diaconate is seen as a mere stepping stone to the priesthood and so they sometimes chafe under the priestly tutelage. They should remember that the diaconate is a vocation which, in an important sense, they do not shed or lose when ordained priest. For a priest will frequently be asked to render the kinds of services asked of deacons—ranging from effective administration of money and parish assets to picking up an elderly parishioner en route to Mass at the outstation. I myself spent almost a year as a deacon and worked for the youth service of a large diocese in the UK. I was based in an innercity parish. It was a busy and fulfilling time. There were opportunities for preaching, and as a deacon, since one cannot say Mass, the tendency is to work harder at one’s homilies and, as the intention says, “fulfil one’s faithful service to the Word”. Hence to take a “diaconal attitude” forward into one’s priesthood can enrich it immensely. This is an argument for an extended diaconate for those moving towards priestly ordination rather than a brief interlude between the end of theology and priestly ordination.

he permanent deacon, who is usually married, also commits himself to service, but without the future prospect of the priesthood. This can be hard at times, especially if the incumbent parish priest isn’t keen on sharing his thunder with someone who might have predated him in the parish by many years. The deacon may be older than the priest, have far more pastoral experience, and may know the parish much more intimately. In effect, how much the deacon can do in a parish is according to the grace and favour of the parish priest, which is a very humble and vulnerable position to occupy. This position is shared by his family members who make great sacrifices for the sake of the deacon’s vocation. If we return to the picture drawn of the first deacons in the Acts of the Apostles, it is clear that they were not intended to function as quasi-priests. Their role was to wait on the tables where the poor widows were fed. It seems to me to be important for deacons, whether “temporary” or permanent, to keep in touch with this tradition of practical and humble service of God’s people, especially the needy among them.

P The Resurrection of Christ is depicted in a mural in Holy Family Church in Ramallah, Palestine. (Photo: Debbie Hill)

The LARGEST Catholic online shop in South Africa!

We specialise and source an extensive variety of products, some of which include: *Personalised Rosaries *Priest Chasubles *Altar Linen *Church Items *Bells *Chalices *Thuribles *Personalised Candles, etc. Tel: 012 460-5011 | Cell: 079 762-4691 | Fax: 012 349-8592 Email: info@catholicshop.co.za

ope Francis, when he was as Fr Jorge Bergoglio the superior of the Jesuit house of studies in Buenos Aires, was exemplary in this. Though he was the rector and a priest as well as a teacher in the college, he used to participate in the practical running of the institution’s farm, sometimes going around in his gumboots feeding pigs. At the same time Fr Bergoglio managed to reach out to the poor people of the area and do the kinds of diaconal service that we read about in Acts. And he encouraged the young Jesuit students to do the same. In this time of coronavirus with the lockdown and, hopefully soon, post-lockdown, we have an opportunity as a Church to reinvigorate the meaning of diaconal service. How this can be done in practice will take a great deal of imagination and an intimate knowledge of the circumstances of the local Church. But there are undoubtedly many new needs around as a result of the pandemic: families struggling with unemployment or shorter hours, some facing actual hunger, health workers needing emotional and spiritual support, priests needing practical ways of communicating with the People of God through the internet. Wherever a deacon can put his shoulder to the wheel under these circumstances, he can make a difference in people’s lives. Just phoning up parishioners to ask how they are coping would count as diaconal service in this difficult time.

The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

COMMUNITY

Immaculate Conception church in Pinetown, Durban, celebrated the confirmation of young parishioners. (Photo: Hosea Janton)

Residents of Little Eden Society’s Elvira Rota Village in Bapsfontein for the intellectually disabled teamed up with Italian theatre company Teatro Patologico for a production of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg.

St Benedict’s College in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, won its 27th consecutive South African Schools rowing title, winning all four age-group trophies. The winning First Eight are seen with honorary umpire Peter Heidstra.

Show us how you live the Church at home. Submit photos of you and the family at your home altars, or joining a livestreamed Mass. Send your photos to pics@ scross.co.za

Holy Family parish in Newlands East, Durban, celebrated the First Communion of young members. The celebration was led by Fr Euwin Swartz and Deacon Reagan Kast, with First Communion teachers Germaine Rana, Edna, Germaine Edinberry, Nicola Phillips and Leigh Lamaletti attending.

Our Lady of Lebanon parish in Mulbarton, Johannesburg, celebrated the First Communion of 64 children. Fr Jean Yammine is seen with the communicants. (Photo: Joe Henriques)

Durban University of Technology lecturer and motivator Joy Kistnasamy ran a staff development workshop at Holy Family College in Glenmore, Durban. Ms Kistnasamy is seen with Grade 8 and Afrikaans teacher Dharum Swaminathan.

CATHOLIC NEWS THAT COUNTS

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! ONLINE PAYMENT FOR EASY RENEWAL

Digital: R420 a year • Print: R550 a year (SA surface mail) Call us: 021 465 5007, fax 021 465 3850, Email us: subscriptions@scross.co.za

Tony Wyllie & Co. Catholic Funeral Home Personal and Digniﬁed 24-hour service

469 Voortrekker Rd, Maitland, Tel: 021 593 8820

48 Main Rd, Muizenberg, Tel: 021 788 3728 carol@wylliefunerals.co.za andrew@wylliefunerals.co.za Member of the NFDA

Pregnant? Need Help? WE CARE

079 742 8861 JHB

We welcome prayers, volunteers and donations.

www.birthright.co.za

Mme Mashigo, a catechist for almost 15 years at St Peter Claver parish in Pimville, Soweto, committed herself to serve as a catechist for another year. (Photo: Sello Mokoka)

The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

FAITH

The Rosary: Praying gift for the family Catholics have a powerful praying tool in the family rosary, as PROF MICHAEL OGUNU explains.

N the mid-19th century a group of tourists were viewing the treasures of the Vatican museum. As they moved from one beautiful object to another, they admired the lifelike sculptures, the ornate vases, the gold and bejewelled chalices, the beautiful paintings with their delicate hand-carved frames. In the middle of the tour, the group’s attention suddenly turned from the inspiring artifacts collected by the Vatican to a whiteclad figure walking towards them. “The Holy Father!” they whispered, their eyes fixed on the surprise visitor. Pope Pius IX walked up to the tourists and began talking to them. “Do you like what you have seen?” the pope asked. “Oh, Your Holiness, they are magnificent. Just gorgeous,” they replied. Then the Holy Father said: “Would you like to see the real treasure of the Vatican?” Thinking there must be a secret chamber containing some priceless, rarely viewed treasure, they responded immediately: “Certainly, Your Holiness, where is it?” “Right here,” he said. And he opened the palm of his hand, showing them the rosary he had been saying as he walked along. Pope Pius IX gazed upon the rosary as a real treasure. More than a hundred years later, the popes continued to extol the treasure and value of the rosary. Pope Paul VI, in his apostolic exhortation Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, strongly recommends the saying of the rosary as a family prayer.

time for family prayer, especially the rosary? Fr Patrick Peyton, the famous family-rosary preacher, said that “the family that prays together, stays together”, while Pope Paul VI warned that families who want to live in the full measure of the vocation and spirituality proper to the Christian family must therefore devote all their energies to overcoming the pressures that hinder family gatherings and prayer in common. For the things we appreciate and value, or consider important in our lives, we either find or make time.

The Second Vatican Council, in its “Decree on the Lay Apostolate”, states that the family shows itself to be the domestic sanctuary of the Church through the mutual love of its members and the common prayer they offer to God. Pope Paul VI used the above statement from the council to reinforce this principle: “A concrete effort must be made to reinstate communal prayer in family life.” He went on to add: “The rosary should be considered as one of the best and most efficacious prayers in common that the Christian family is invited to recite.”

Rosary is Christ-centred Why should the Holy Father put such a strong emphasis on the rosary as a form of family prayer? While the rosary is related to Mary, it is really Christ-centred. It has its inspiration from the Scriptures and takes into account the saving events in Christ’s life, from the virginal conception through his childhood and adult years, to the Passion, death, and Resurrection. It likewise takes into account the effects of Christ’s life on the early Church—the day of Pentecost, and Mary’s being taken into heaven, body and soul, at the end of her life. Pope Paul VI stated that meditation on the mysteries of the rosary can be an excellent preparation for the celebration of the same mysteries in the liturgy. Consequently, as families pray the rosary together, dwelling on the mysteries, they become more alive and echo, in a sense, the celebration of these mysteries in the Mass. The family rosary is an excellent way for children to learn the prayers and mysteries of the rosary. As they become familiar with basic prayers like the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be, let the children join in the recitation of the rosary, announce the particular mystery, and lead a decade of the rosary.

An effective family tool

The rosary is not the only form of prayer that a family can use when praying together. But, as Pope Paul VI stated, it is one of the best and most efficacious prayers we have. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher) Perhaps the member leading the rosary could announce an intention for each decade or one for the whole rosary on that particular day. At the beginning of each decade, a short passage of Scripture might be read pertaining to that mystery of the rosary. Care must be taken, however, not to make the rosary a mere mechanical exercise. Otherwise, it becomes a mere moving from bead to bead. Rote mechanical repetition could make the words of St Matthew become a reality: “In your prayer, do not rattle on like the pagans. They think they will win a hearing by the sheer multiplication of words” (6:7).

The obstacle of time One of the biggest obstacles to family prayer is time. Some will complain: “Where is the time to get together to pray? It is hard

enough to get the family together just to eat a meal, much less to pray!” It is true that the changing conditions of life today do not make family gatherings easy. On the other hand, how many hours will the family sit with their eyes glued to the TV set? They seem almost oblivious of one another, with rarely a word spoken, except perhaps to decide which channel to watch for the next hour. And never mind the obsession with smartphones and social media! Then there are all the activities which children are involved in: school homework, various sports and extracurricular school programmes. For mom and dad, there are the church meetings, associations, and cultural meetings, social events and so on. The list becomes endless. Could this be why there is no

How to pray a family rosary H

ERE are some good ways of starting a family rosary. The key is to be patient and find your own way.

The Scriptures remind us: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart also be” (Mt 6:21). Today, when the very existence of family life is being threatened, the family rosary can become an effective tool in strengthening our family life, in promoting peace and harmony within our families, and in nurturing love for each other. The rosary is not the only form of prayer that a family can use when praying together, it is merely one form. But, as Pope Paul VI stated, it is one of the best and most efficacious prayers we have. Catholic families in the 16th century used the rosary to seek God’s intervention in preventing the Turks from entering Europe. Their lives and lifestyles were threatened. The Turks were already at the gates of Vienna. The effectiveness of their prayers was evident in the famous Battle of Lepanto in which the Turkish fleet was destroyed. What would be the effectiveness of Catholic families in the 21st century if they used this same powerful tool? We will never know until we use it. n Prof Michael Ogunu is the president of the executive board of the World Apostolate of Fatima in Africa.

576 AM in Gauteng DStv Audio 870 or livestreaming from

www.radioveritas.co.za

English Mass weekdays at 12:00 after the Angelus & Sunday at 11am. Sesotho Mass on Sunday at 9am Zulu Mass at 6pm

Personalise it

Each family member should have their own rosary. Children may play with it. Girls may wear it as a necklace, and boys will try to use it as a lasso. That’s fine. It helps them become familiar with a rosary. Eventually they will learn and grow in reverence for their rosary.

WhatsApp your prayer requests to 066 473-8303 info@radioveritas.co.za

Create a habit Set a time that is comfortable for your family and that works without adding stress. When it doesn’t happen, don’t give up entirely, just pick it up again the next day.

The world is grounded

Create a space

But we know that we will come out of our lockdown exile again. And then we will travel again, for holidays or on business. FOWLER TRAVEL will be there to make all individual or group arrangements you need, with personalised service and expert advise!

Set the tone for prayer so young children understand this is different to other family activities. If possible, light a candle and play some soft instrumental background music.

Start small Be patient. Don’t try to complete an entire rosary the first time you gather together in prayer, particularly if you have young children. Start with a decade and build over time.

Keep it simple The rosary is a great way for young children to learn the Hail Mary, Our Father and Apostle’s Creed, and to learn about the lives of Jesus and his mother Mary.

Involve all family members If children have a role, they will participate more fully and be more attentive. Let them lead a reflection or the

When initiating a family rosary, start small, keep it simple, be patient... (Photo: Maryam Zilles)

Opportunity to teach

sary to answer their questions. As they get older, you can hold their questions until prayer is complete.

Use the rosary as a starting point to teach children about other aspects of their faith. Children are curious and will ask questions. Pause in prayer as neces-

There’s no time like the present and no place like home.

prayers depending on their age.

Just start

Call Michael at 083 704-5063 or michael@fowlertravel.co.za

The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

FAITH

Why Schoenstatt gave Our Lady a new crown Last week the International Schoenstatt Movement crowned the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Queen of Spiritual and Physical Health”. ERIN CARELSE found out what that means.

N the midst of the worldwide coronavirus crisis, the International Schoenstatt Family Movement crowned the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Queen of Spiritual and Physical Health”. The simple Mass was streamed live from the original shrine in Germany, where the movement was founded in 1914. Many South African Catholics followed the livestream as Schoenstatt has a significant presence in this country, especially in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Queenstown. It was not lost on anybody watching that “corona” means “crown”. The coronaviruses take their name from the shape of the virus, which resembles a crown. Schoenstatt founder Fr Joseph Kentenich often crowned the Blessed Mother at various crucial points in the history of his life’s work and in moments of great difficulty, calling on her to protect her children in times of need, and entrusting impossible situations into her care and prayers. Sarah-Leah Pimentel, a member

of the Schoenstatt Family Movement, explained that a trend began to emerge within the International Schoenstatt Movement, which largely comprises Spanishspeaking Latin America, to crown Mary as the queen of the virus. The hashtag #CoronaMater (meaning “Crown Mother”) began to trend and became a worldwide cry. “The crowning was a moment to pray for all those who have been affected by the coronavirus: those who have fallen ill and those who have died; frontline workers in hospitals caring for the sick; world leaders who are faced with very difficult decisions that will impact the health and finances of millions; those who suffer isolation and fear at home; those who were unable to bury their dead; those who do not know how they will feed their families as the global economy grinds to a halt,” said Ms Pimentel.

crowning ceremony. Others made paper or cardboard crowns, or crowns made of flowers, or a picture,”explained Ms Pimentel, who is also a monthly Southern Cross columnist. She pointed out that #CoronaMater is not just a symbolic act. “It is a tangible act of faith, fully entrusting this virus, the world’s health, and our own families to the Blessed Mother,” she said. “In our powerlessness, God the Father is all-powerful. In our vulnerability, the Holy Spirit gives us the courage and faith to face our frailty. In our isolation and inability to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, Jesus comes into our homes and fills us with spiritual graces. In our fear, Mother Mary covers us with her mantle, protecting us from anxiety,” she said.

A personal coronation

Sr Connie O’Brien, the South African Schoenstatt Movement coordinator, explained that the first crowning took place at the original shrine in Germany in 1939. “During Fr Kentenich’s incarceration in the Dachau concentration camp [from 1942-45], when many were dying of starvation, he crowned Our Lady as the ‘Queen of Bread’, and some lives were in fact saved when food parcels were smuggled through shortly afterwards,” she explained. Already in the 1930s, Fr Kentenich had foreseen the dangers

She noted that it was also a moment of personal crowning. “Each family watching at home from their homes was also asked to crown the Blessed Mother in their home shrines,” she said. It is a Schoenstatt concept that the graces we receive in the physical shrine are also present in our homes, where we set up a prayer corner and ask Mary and Jesus to be present. “Some people had small crowns that they used for the

The Southern Cross is our region’s only Catholic weekly, and so it is crucial in bringing Catholic news and thought to the People of God. Without it an important Catholic voice will be lost. WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR ANY SUPPORT WE RECEIVE. YOUR GIFT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.

Schoenstatt vs Nazis

Direct Payments/EFT Banking Details: Name: The Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Co Ltd Bank: Standard Bank, Thibault Square branch code 02 09 09 Account No: 07 153 43 42 Proof of payment can be emailed to admin@scross.co.za or faxed to 021

A priest presides over the international crowning of the Blessed Mother as the “Queen of Spiritual and Physical Health” at the Original Shrine of the Schoenstatt Family Movement in Germany. that lay ahead for Schoenstatt since it was in direct opposition to Nazism. “He sent Sisters out to South Africa and South America. Replicas of the original shrine in Germany were erected in other countries,” she added. “During his time of exile in Milwaukee [1951-65] another ‘spiritual breakthrough’ occurred with the development of the ‘home shrines’.” Sr O’Brien said an organic life process ensued, with many wanting to take the experience of the shrine into their own homes. Thus they developed a place of prayer in their homes where they could experience the graces of being a domestic church. “Mary was called upon to be the Educator of Families. Since some families were feeling helpless in the face of the many challenges that confronted them with regard to their children’s education, their marriages and financial concerns

they thought about crowning Our Lady in all their needs,” Sr O’Brien explained. Thus their home shrines became places of refuge, support and hope for many in their difficulties, she said. “It became a pastoral opportunity for faith to grow within the family, spearheaded by the parents who were motivated by ideals flowing out of their covenant of love with Mary.” On May 31, 2015, the Zimbabwean Schoenstatt Family, after a nine-week novena, crowned Mary as Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen of Africa. On October 18, 2014, the International Schoenstatt Family crowned Mary as Queen of the Covenant of Love at their centenary celebrations in Germany attended by 15 000. n The international crowning of the Blessed Mother can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCVyV k6lDEI (CLICK HERE)

465 3850 – please let us know if you have donated! *Cash payments to be made at ATMs only due to huge deposit fees. Snapscan Scan to snap, or if you’re on your phone click the link https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/19K6EebY

The Southern Cross, April 22 to April 28, 2020

YOUR CLASSIFIEDS

Fr Joseph Leathem OMI

ATHER Joseph Leathem died unexpectedly on March 16, after just two nights in hospital. He would have turned 85 on April 29. His death took everybody by surprise. He was known to be a fit man who played a round of golf every week and, at his age, he could still genuflect quite easily. His death came a day after the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were announced. This left us in a quandary as to how to celebrate his Requiem Mass, when only 100 people could attend. In consultation with Archbishop Buti Thlagale OMI and the parish council, it was decided that the attendance at the funeral would be restricted to the clergy and religious. This was a doubly traumatic time for the parish which Fr Leathem had served for 32 years: not only did they lose their beloved priest, but they could not give him a fitting final farewell. Fr Leathem was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1935. In his youth he was a talented athlete and a candidate for the Irish Olympic team in the 1950s. However, he joined the Oblates instead. He made his first profession on September 29, 1954, and was ordained a priest on September 20, 1959. He arrived in South Africa in 1960, together with four other Irish Oblates. Fr Leathem first learnt Sesotho and then served several communities in the Greater Johannesburg area. He ministered in Orlando West and Benoni (in the 1960s), Yeoville (for most of the 1970s),

and La Rochelle (in the 1980s). He was appointed parish priest of St Therese, Edenvale, in February 1988, where he remained for 32 years until his death. Fr Leathem endeared himself to hundreds of people; he was a man who was loved by everyone. He never turned anyone away, and he was never confrontational. When he erred with the rules, it was always on the side of compassion. He had a special closeness to people. Fr Joe was a gentle, humble, self-sacrificing man who served the parishes with great dedication. In his quiet way, he made a great impact in people’s lives. The testimonies of parishioners speak of a man who was more than a friend; he was part of the family. He is particularly remembered for responding to every sick call—no matter what time of night, always with the tenderness of Christ. He was courteous, gracious and generous. He reflected the quiet, steadfast faith of his namesake, St Joseph.

When he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his priesthood, the parish wrote this prayerful tribute to him: “Lord Jesus, you have raised up in our midst a priest who is totally dedicated to you, who has come to a living relationship with you, and who is able to help others to come to a living relationship with you. A priest who has a deep reverence for the Mass, and who is able to inspire this love and reverence in others. Lord bless this priest who is truly dedicated to leading people to you. Amen.” Fr Leathem was much appreciated for his three decades of chaplaincy and friendship to Holy Rosary School. He was also close to the Little Eden Society and had been working on the beatification cause of Domitilla and Danny Hyams, the founders of Little Eden. Fr Leathem celebrated Mass for residents of the Edenvale home every first Friday of the month. In the funeral homily, Fr Kevin Bugler OMI drew attention to the deep Marian side of Fr Leathem’s spirituality. Not merely seeking Mary’s intercession for particular situations, Fr Leathem prayed, “May I be like you.” His sharing with his Oblate brothers always brought out this yearning of his heart. He modelled his life on Mary’s embracing the will of the Father. Fr Leathem is survived by his beloved sisters Ann, Elizabeth and Mary, who live in Canada, and followed the livestreamed Requiem Mass. By Fr Neil Frank OMI

Fr John Nolan OMI

BLATE Father John Nolan, who served 54 years in the archdiocese of Bloemfontein, died at 84 in Dublin on April 8. His death was the fourth Covid-19-related death of an Oblate in the Anglo-Irish province. Fr Nolan made his first profession on September 29, 1956, and was ordained a priest on February 22, 1963. He came to South Africa in 1964 and worked in the archdiocese of Bloemfontein until 2017. He returned to Ireland on holiday, but because of illness he could not come back to South Africa. He transferred to the Oblates’ Anglo-Irish province in 2018. Fr Nolan served many communities during his 54 years in South Africa: Assisi mission (1964; 1990-94); Dewetsdorp (1964); Wepener mission (1964-75); Jagersfontein

mission (1975-81); and Sacred Heart cathedral (1981-90, 1994-2015). He put a lot of time and energy into making the Sacred Heart cathedral a place of hospitality for priests and religious in the archdiocese and beyond. Many people came off the street needing counselling and pastoral care, and he gave plenty of time for this ministry, over and beyond the work of the parish and the pastoral care of the sick and elderly.

Fr Nolan was also a well-known hospital chaplain in the nine hospitals in the area. He was a great promoter of Oblate community activities in the district. He walked the course with other Oblate golfers on Mondays, and was the one usually asked to grace an occasion with an introduction or a thank-you in the parish and in the Oblate community. Fr Nolan was the coordinating priest for Marriage Encounter in the Free State, Northern Cape and Lesotho in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is probably not known to many that he played the tenor horn in the brass band in his home town of Wexford. Since he left, it has transformed into the Loch Garman Silver Band. Fr Nolan was buried in the Oblate cemetery in Inchicore, under the strict restrictions in place at the time.

Our bishops’ anniversaries

Southern CrossWord solutions

This week we congratulate: April 23: Archbishop George Daniel, retired of Pretoria, on his 87th birthday April 27: Bishop Stanley Dziuba of Umzimkulu on his 60th birthday April 27: Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha on his 60th birthday

SOLUTIONS TO 912. ACROSS: 4 Abraham, 8 Iberia, 9 Starchy, 10 Nephew, 11 Advent, 12 Sanctify, 18 Talisman, 20 Spruce, 21 Afraid, 22 Deceive, 23 Father, 24 Tremble. DOWN: 1 Witness 2 Weeping, 3 Silent, 5 Betrayal, 6 Arrive, 7 Aching, 13 Interval, 14 Empathy, 15 Unadorn, 16 Appear, 17 Museum, 19 In fear.

Anniversaries • Milestones • Prayers • Personal • Services • Employment • Property • Thanks Please include payment (R2.00 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

DEATHS

O’CONNOR—Brian Joseph. Our loving father and grandfather passed away peacefully on April 5, 2020. Will always be remembered by his family: Sr Kathy FMM; Anne, Simon, Theresa and Claire; Michael, Ros, Michaela and Caitlyn; Ros, Matthew, Marie and Sarah; Martin, Frances, Andrew and Rosemary; David, Odell, Rebecca, Hope and Grace.

PERSONAL

ABORTION WARNING: The truth will convict a silent Church. See www. valuelifeabortionisevil.co.za ABORTION: Monthly Sunday Mass bidding prayer: “That Almighty God guide our nation to cease our murders of our unborn infants.”

PRAYERS

PRAYER TO ST MARK: O glorious St Mark, through the grace of God our Father, you became a great

To advertise e-mail Yolanda Timm at advertising @scross.co.za

evangelist, preaching the Good News of Christ. May you help us to know him well so that we may faithfully live our lives as followers of Christ. Obtain for me, I pray you, lively faith, firm hope and burning love; patience in adversity, humility in prosperity, recollection in prayer, purity of heart, a right intention in all my works, diligence in fulfilling the duties of my state of life, constancy in my resolutions, resignation to the will of God and perseverance in the grace of God even unto death. By your intercession and your glorious merits, I entrust to you this special favour I now ask...[Mention your request here...]. I ask this through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

HEAR ME, LORD, on behalf of all those who are dear to me, all whom I have in mind at this moment. Be near them in all their anxieties and worries, give them

the help of your saving grace. I commend them all with trustful confidence to your merciful love. Remember, Lord, all who are mindful of me: all those who have asked me to pray for them, all who have been kind to me, all who have wronged me, or whom I have wronged by ill-will or misunderstanding. Give all of us to bear each other’s faults, and to share each other’s burdens. Have mercy on the souls of our loved ones who have gone before us. Grant them peace and happiness. Amen.

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

MARIANELLA Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped, with amazing sea views. Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Malcolm Salida 082 784-5675, mjsalida@ gmail.com

Liturgical Calendar Year A – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday April 26, 3rd Sunday of Easter Acts 2:14, 22-33, Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11, 1 Peter 1:17-21, Luke 24:13-35 Monday April 27 Acts 6:8-15, Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 2930, John 6:22-29 Tuesday April 28, St Pius, St Peter Chanel, St Louis Grignion de Montfort Acts 7:51--8:1, Psalm 31:3-4, 6-8, 17, 21, John 6:30-35 Wednesday April 29, St Catherine of Siena Acts 8:1-8, Psalm 66:1-7, John 6:35-40 Thursday April 30, Our Lady Mother of Africa

Acts 1:12-14, Responsorial psalm Luke 1:46-55, John 2:1-11 Friday May 1, St Joseph the Worker Acts 9:1-20, Psalm 117:1-2, John 6:52-59 or Genesis 1:26--2:3 or Colossians 3:1415, 17, 23-24, Psalm 90:2-4, 12-14, 16, Matthew 13:54-58 Saturday May 2, St Athanasius Acts 9:31-42, Psalm 116:12-17, John 6:60-69 Sunday May 3, 4th Sunday of Easter, Vocations Sunday Acts 2:14, 36-41, Psalm 23:1-6, 1 Peter 2:20-25, John 10:1-10

FROM OUR VAULTS 69 Years Ago: April 30, 1951

Southern Cross goes daily Over five days The Southern Cross publishes a daily edition—this one is the last of them—to mark the establishment of the Southern African hierarchy through the founding of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and the Marian Congress in Durban.

Pope Pius XII addresses SA A Eucharistic procession of 20 000 people, led by Cardinal Teodosio de Gouveia of Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), though the streets of Cape Town culminated with an address by Pope Pius XII which was broadcast from Vatican Radio at Stal Plein in front of St Mary’s cathedral. “Today the Church of the Union of South Africa has come of age,” the pope said. “Schools have been flourishing; you have your Catholic press and seminary; there are hospitals and orphanages for the suffering and needy members of the Body of Christ.” Pope Pius also called for a “marked increase” in the number of black clergy, saying that the call to vocations begins in faith-filled homes.

SA Church enters a new era In his editorial, Fr Louis Stubbs notes that “as the Church comes of age and enters a new era” following “a memorable week”, there has been an “intensification of the spiritual life among the people”, in part thanks to the many parish missions that were held in the preceding weeks.

The Southern Cross is published independently by the Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Company Ltd.

Address: 10 Tuin Plein, Cape Town Postal Address: PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000 Tel: (021) 465 5007 Fax: (021) 465 3850

Website: www.scross.co.za Facebook: www.facebook.com/thescross Twitter: twitter.com/ScrossZA Instagram: instagram.com/thesoutherncross_ Digital Edition: www.digital.scross.co.za Subscription Rates: Digital R420 pa and Print by Mail R550 pa

Editor: Günther Simmermacher (editor@scross.co.za), Business Manager: Pamela Davids (admin@scross.co.za), Advisory Editor: Michael Shackleton, Local News: Erin Carelse (e.carelse@scross.co.za) Editorial: Claire Allen (c.allen@scross.co.za), Mary Leveson (m.leveson@scross.co.za), Advertising: Yolanda Timm (advertising@scross.co.za), Subscriptions: Michelle Perry (subscriptions@scross.co.za), Accounts: Desirée Chanquin (accounts@scross.co.za), Directors: R Shields (Chair), Bishop S Sipuka, S Duval, E Jackson, B Jordan, Sr H Makoro CPS, C Mathieson, G Stubbs

Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect those of the editor, staff or directors of The Southern Cross.

The Southern Cross is a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa. Printed by Paarl Coldset (Pty) Ltd, 10 Freedom Way, Milnerton. Published by the proprietors, The Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Co Ltd, at the company’s registered office, 10 Tuin Plein, Cape Town, 8001.

the

4th Sunday of Easter: May 3 Readings: Acts 2:14, 36-41, Psalm 23:1-6, 1 Peter 2:20-25, John 10:1-10

NE of the things that needs to happen at Easter is that we help to bring lost sheep home. You can see that happening in the readings for next Sunday, which, by the way, is Vocations Sunday; and that may be encouraging for sheep like us who are longing to discover our calling. In the first reading, Peter is continuing his Pentecost sermon, and bringing his hearers home to the realisation that “God has made him Lord and Messiah this Jesus, whom you people crucified”. So there is no question of letting them off. However, they “were pierced to the heart, and asked Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘What are we to do, brothers?’” So there is hope here that these lost sheep may be able to put things right. Peter reinforces this: “Repent (or “Turn it around”), and let each of you get baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins—and you will receive the free gift of the Holy Spirit.” His slogan to them is: “Be saved from this crooked generation.” And the results turn out to be spectacular: “On that day about three thousand souls were added.” The lost sheep are coming home. In the psalm for next Sunday, loveliest of all David’s hymns, we are given a dramatic

S outher n C ross

presentation of what a real shepherd does for his sheep: “The Lord is my shepherd—I shall not be in need”, and we are invited to see the story through the eyes of a lost sheep: “He makes me graze in green pastures; he leads me by safe waters.” It is a beautiful song, and can contemplate the direst of possibilities with some equanimity: “Even though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death—I shall not fear evil.” And why is this sheep so confident?: “You are at my side—your rod and staff comfort me.” There is the lovely image of God who “prepares a table before me, in the presence of my enemies”, and (more extravagantly): “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” And the sheep fears no pursuit, because its only pursuers are “goodness and steadfast love, all the days of my life”. It is a beautiful picture of sheep that have been well and truly found. The second reading has Peter, playing the part of an elder, presenting Jesus as “the shepherd and overseer of your souls”. And what is this shepherd saying to his sheep? First, we have to suffer patiently (it may or may not help you to know that the context here is that of corporal punishment):

Conrad

ow, concretely, might each of these be envisaged? Our Churches need to be diagnostic; they need to name the present moment in a prophetic way. But that calls for a courage that, right now, seems lacking, derailed by fear and ideology. Liberals and conservatives diagnose the present moment in radically different ways, not because the facts aren’t the same for both, but because each of them is seeing things through its own ideology. Also, both camps seem too frightened to look at the hard issues square on, both afraid of what they might see. To name just one issue both seem afraid to look at: our rapidly-emptying churches and the fact that so many of our own children are no longer going to church or identifying with a Church. Conservatives simplistically blame secularism, without being willing to openly debate the various critiques of the Churches coming from almost every part of society. Liberals, for their part, tend to simplistically blame conservative rigidity without really being open to courageously looking at places within secularity where faith in a transcendent God and an incarnate Christ run antithetical to some of the cultural ethos and ideologies within secularity. Both sides, as is evident from their defensiveness, seem afraid to look at all the issues. What must we do preventatively to turn

Sunday Reflections

“If you get punished when you do good, this is a grace in God’s eyes.” And the point here is that we are following our Shepherd: “Christ suffered for you, leaving you a model to follow his footsteps.” And of course Jesus did not deserve what he got: “He did not commit any sin, nor was any trickery found on his lips”, and he did not seek revenge: “When they reviled him, he did not revile them back; when he suffered, he did not issue threats, but handed himself over to the One who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might live to righteousness, free from sin.” That is what a shepherd does, even if we “like sheep had gone astray”. The Gospel also speaks of shepherds; here it is Jesus who is presented as both shepherd and door. The shepherd, we gather, is “the one who enters through the door”. This is in contrast to the “thief and robber”, who does not enter the fold through the door, but comes from and other direction. The one who enters through the door is “the shepherd of the sheep”. Then there are two further criteria for recognising the “shepherd” (and these may be worth reflecting on with regard to Vocations Sunday). First: “The

Churches as field hospitals OST of us are familiar with Pope Francis’ comment that today the Church needs to become a “field hospital”. What’s implied here? First, that right now the Church is not a field hospital, or at least not much of one. Too many Churches of all denominations see the world more as an opponent to be fought than as a battlefield strewn with wounded persons to whom they are called to minister. The Churches today, in the pope’s words, have often reversed an image in the Book of Revelation where Jesus stands outside the door knocking, trying to come in, to a situation where Jesus is knocking on the door from inside the church, trying to get out. So how might our Churches, our ecclesial communities, become field hospitals? In a wonderfully provocative article in a recent issue of America magazine, Czech spiritual writer Tomas Halik suggests that for our ecclesial communities to become “field hospitals” they must assume three roles: • A diagnostic one—wherein they identify the signs of the times; • A preventive one—wherein they create an immune system in a world where malignant viruses of fear, hatred, populism, and nationalism are tearing communities apart; and • A convalescent one—wherein they help the world overcome the traumas of the past through forgiveness.

Nicholas King SJ

Bringing the lost home

door-keeper opens to this one”, so he is known. Secondly: “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” After that we are offered a delightful picture of the shepherd; he does not drive them from behind, but “he goes before them and his sheep follow him, because they recognise his voice”. By contrast: They do not follow another one, but run away from him, because they do not recognise other people’s voices.” This does not immediately ring bells with his audience, and so he tries another tack: “Amen, amen I’m telling you, I am the door for the sheep.” Any others were “thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not listen to them”. Then he repeats the idea: “I am the door; if anyone comes in through me, they will be saved, and will go in and go out and find pasture.” Then (and this may help us find our vocation) he concludes with a powerful statement of what he is for: “I came that they might have life and have it in abundance.” That is what our Shepherd is bringing us; and that is where our vocation is to be found.

Southern Crossword #912

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

our Churches into field hospitals? The image Halik proposes here is rich but is intelligible only within an understanding of the Body of Christ and an acceptance of the deep connection we have with each other inside the family of humanity. We are all one living organism, so what any one part does, for disease or health, affects every other part. And the health of a body is contingent on its immune system, upon those enzymes that roam throughout the body and kill off cancerous cells. Today our world is beset with cancerous cells of bitterness, hatred, lying, self-protecting fear, and tribalism of every kind. Hence our ecclesial communities must become places that generate the healthy enzymes needed to kill off those cancer cells. We must create an immune system robust enough to do this. And for that to happen, we must first ourselves stop being part of the cancer. The single biggest religious challenge today is that of creating an immune system vigorous enough to help kill off the cancers of hatred, fear, lying, and tribalism. Finally, our convalescent role: Our ecclesial communities need to help the world come to reconciliation with past traumas. Happily, this is one of our strengths. Our Churches are sanctuaries of forgiveness. In the words of the late Cardinal Francis George of Chicago: “In society everything is permitted, but nothing is forgiven; in the Church much is prohibited, but everything is forgiven.” But where we need to be more proactive now is in relation to a number of salient “traumas of the past”. In brief, forgiveness, healing, and atonement still need to take place apposite to colonisation, slavery, the status of women, the torture and disappearance of peoples, the mistreatment of refugees, the perennial support of unjust regimes, and the atonement owed to mother earth herself. Our Churches must lead this effort. Our ecclesial communities as field hospitals can be the Galilee of today.

ACROSS

4. The patriarch of Genesis (7) 8. The territory of the Church in Madrid and Lisbon (6) 9. Like the collar of a stiﬀnecked cleric? (7) 10. When in PE you’ll ﬁnd a relative (6) 11. Season before the Nativity (6) 12. City fans to make holy (8) 18. Good luck charm at Milan’s exchange (8) 20. The smart tree in the garden (6) 21. Do not let your hearts be … (Jn 14) (6) 22. The Devil will do it (7) 23. The right address for a priest? (6) 24. Oh, sometimes it causes me to … (hymn) (7)

DOWN

1. One who may swear in court (7) 2. There will be … and gnashing of teeth (Lk 13) (7) 3. Like Christmas night? (6) 5. Judas’ treachery (8) 6. Reach the destination (6) 7. Painful yearning? (6) 13. The time between (8) 14. Pay them about a share in their emotions (7) 15. Remove the decoration (7) 16. Let the apparition come into sight (6) 17. Building to sue, keeping mum about it (6) 19. Work out your salvation … (Phil 2) (2,4) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

WO priests who knew each other well on earth meet in the afterlife. Fr Mark says: “Oh, Fr Paul, isn’t heaven wonderful after the parish ministry?” Fr Paul replies: “Fr Mark, this isn’t heaven!”

Buy the Church Chuckles book. Only R180. For details, see ad on page 2

A HOLY PILGRIMAGE TO OUR LADY

Medjugorje & Rome 2021 Plus ASSISI PADRE PIO LORETO AND MORE 8 - 19 March 2021 Led by Fr S’milo Mngadi Contact Gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or 076 352-3809 www.fowlertours.co.za/medju21

admin@schreuderattorneys.co.za

For all your Sand and Stone requirements in Piet Retief, Southern Mpumalanga

Tel: 017 826 0054/5 Cell: 082 904 7840 Email: sales@eskaycrushers.co.za